


Living Again

by twiggzzler



Category: Mad Max Series (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Biting, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gore, Graphic Pain, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Multi, Post-Movie(s), Self-Harm, Slow Burn, Some People Live, more tags will be added, some ptsd
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-26
Updated: 2015-11-30
Packaged: 2018-04-28 04:20:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 32,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5077594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twiggzzler/pseuds/twiggzzler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Starting right where the movie left off, the ex-wives learn to start their lives over as free women. Some of the Boys start to trickle back and life gets complicated. Much will need to change in the Citadel, but they'll work to make it a better place and find ways to heal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. No Time to Grieve

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fic I have written in about 10 years and then it was small and only the one. I think this will become a large undertaking. I am nervous.
> 
> I want to explore multiple relationships as well as some political restructuring of the Citadel. Chapters will switch point of view, but it will mostly be Capable's because I relate to her the most and feel I can keep her the most in character. I named the Vuvalini loosely on Norse goddesses. It seemed only two survived in the movie and they'll be popping up from time to time.
> 
> Thank you Canaricita for beta reading! You are a gem and trading is fun.

Her mouth was dry. Her heart raced.

It wasn't when Joe died. It wasn't when she watched the War Rig flip and the horrible crash that followed. It wasn't even when Furiosa opened her eyes again after receiving the gift of blood. It was now that this journey felt truly done. Now that the lift had stopped with a loud clang in the higher reaches of the Citadel, she felt that it was finally over. That horrible chapter in her life. But what now?

Tears began to well in her eyes and she felt the familiar sting in her nose that always precipitated a heavy bout of crying. She felt crowded. Pups and lift operators were all around them, staring and whispering to each other. The Wretched that had been brought up with them cheered and hugged, but she and the other women didn't move at first. She wondered if they felt the same. No, probably not exactly the same. Towards the end of it, she began to hope for something more than freedom. But that hope was dashed and crushed under the War Rig. She'd held it together then better than when Angharad died, needing to keep a strong face for the others in the intensity of the moment. She couldn't cry for someone else while Furiosa's fate was so uncertain. After all, she'd only known him two days. Was she crying because of the loss of him, or because she felt foolish for mourning him as much as she did?

Toast laughed. It was small, as if it escaped on accident. As if she were afraid to be happy. But then Dag and Cheedo joined in, and they all began to laugh and cling to each other, dragging Furiosa into their arms, though gingerly on account of her wounds. Even she gave a small smile. Capable joined them and put a smile on her face, but could not bring herself to laugh with them. She dipped her head and hoped that her hair covered her eyes sufficiently. She did not want them to ask questions.

When they broke apart, she didn't know where to go. The Vault? That seemed to be where the other three were headed. She wanted to be alone for a little bit, to get this out of her system where no one could see her cry when she should be happy. And she was. Overjoyed, even, despite her pain. Finally free, as was everyone else now. But she needed her time to get over Nux and collect herself. Maybe even cry over Angharad some more. Angharad had been the driving force of them all escaping, and she hadn't been able to live to see it to the end. The future was still uncertain and Capable knew they would need to organize and rebuild the social structure of the Citadel in a way that was better for everyone. She always felt the need to be pragmatic and compartmentalized herself. Life had been easier when she could hide her emotions away. It had made Joe easier.

“We'll need to address the people,” Furiosa said quietly. Capable stopped and looked at her, pulled out of her thoughts. The two remaining Vuvalini came up to her and put their hands on Furiosa's shoulders.

“You need to rest. You shouldn't even be standing right now. This place has plenty of water and food, you say? Let's get some in you first,” said the woman who had driven the Gigahorse after they'd stopped to put Joe on the hood.

“They need guidance. From someone they know,” Furiosa replied, but was ready to comply, as she began to support herself on the other women when they put her arms over their shoulders. She looked as if she were about to pass out again.

“They can wait a few minutes. You, Red, where do we get this food and water?”

Capable gave a little start. It seemed her alone time would have to wait. “I... am actually not sure. Everything was brought to us in the Vault. We weren't allowed outside, except for... exams. Before then, I was never in the Citadel...” She hoped she didn't appear as lost as she felt. She felt blood rush to her cheeks as she turned her eyes to one of the lift operators, watching them silently.

“What's your name?”

He paused before answering gruffly, “Pang.”

“Hello, Pang. I'm Capable.” She side glanced at the Vuvalini that had called her Red. “Would you guide us to where we can get some food and water for Imperator Furiosa? Then we'll probably need to take her to...” she tried not to shudder, “the Organic's.” She did not want to go there herself, too many bad memories, but the vile man was not there now, so hopefully it wouldn't be so bad.

Silence answered her. He glanced down to where the Wretched had torn apart Joe's body, then over to Corpus. Capable hadn't even realized he was here. She felt fear seize her gut, but pushed it down and looked at him steadily. He had no power now. He was at their mercy, right?

He looked toward Furiosa, who glared back at him. Even while unable to properly stand on her own, she was intimidating. “Obey the Imperator,” he acquiesced. Pang looked to Furiosa. Capable felt a little put off that she was being talked around until -

“Do what Capable says,” Furiosa commanded with as much authority as one could have while tip-toeing the line of consciousness.

Pang and the other lift operator looked from Furiosa to Capable then, and, to her surprise, offered her the V8 salute. “This way, Imperator Capable,” Pang said before turning and walking past the giant cogs.

“What... Imperator...?” Capable began, looking to Furiosa, who smirked at her. Was that all it took? Someone in authority saying you must be heard and that is how a chain of command was started? The three started moving after Pang, who had stopped to wait on them.

“You coming, Imperator?” asked the older Vuvalini.

Capable wasn't sure if it was said as an insult. “My name is Capable,” she said, beginning to walk with purpose. A few of the young War Pups followed behind them. Her confidence faltered a little as she continued, “I'm... sorry. I hadn't caught your names before, either.”

“That's alright, child. I am Skad.”

“And I am called Geffy,” said the other. Capable took a good look at them. She hadn't spent as much time socializing with the women as her sisters had the previous night since she'd spent all her time with Nux. They both had weather worn faces and hair of more grey than anything else. But they weren't nearly as old as Miss Giddy had been. Skad's hair was in two large braids, similar to her own. Geffy's hair was mostly free, with a few braids at the front to keep it out of her face, and she still wore her goggles on her forehead. They seemed strong and resolute. Capable thought of the other Vuvalini that died on their trek back to the Citadel. These women surely mourned the loss of their friends, yet they didn't show it as they simply moved forward and did what needed to be done.

“Thank you, for helping us. You will stay, right?”

“There's nothing really to go back to,” Geffy replied.

Skad nodded. “We'll have to make this our home now. Get used to all these... men.” She laughed.

“And I'm sorry for... your friends that died. For us. Helping us,” Capable said. They used their free hands to gesture the dead to their hearts as they walked. “What were their names?”

“Ida was our seed keeper. Frie was our Elder, Helen was the best shot you ever seen, Maddie loved to do tricks with her bike, and her daughter-”

“Valkyrie,” Furiosa cut in. “was my childhood friend. I'm glad I got to see her again.”

After some silence, Geffy said, “And we're sorry for your loss, too. Angharad must have been a remarkable woman, from what your sisters say. She could have become something great. And your Nux boy seemed a diamond in the rough.”

Tears came to Capable's eyes again. No, no. She had pushed it down, why was it coming back at the mere mention of his name? She blinked rapidly and cleared her throat. “Nux wasn't... mine. No one belongs to anyone. But... thank you.”

She felt a hand rest on her shoulder, but didn't look back to see whose it was.

The group turned a corner and came upon a clearing with rough tables and small pulley systems against the wall. Pang pulled on a cord and shouted up, “Food and water for two Imperators! And two...” He glanced at Skad and Geffy. “What rank are you?”

It was Furiosa who replied. “War Mothers.” It seemed a strange title to Capable. Wouldn't they want to end the violent culture? They had been the Many Mothers, but they weren't many anymore. Maybe... it was a start to bridge the gap. Full change wouldn't come in a day.

“Two War Mothers!”

“... the fuck is a War Mother?” replied a voice from the pulley opening above them.

“Watch your fuckin' mouth around your mothers, boy,” came Skad's laughing reply.

The ropes moved without another word from above, bringing down a small platform with four clay cups of water and four shallow bowls of something lumpy. Capable took the tray from the platform and took it to one of the tables. Random boxes and barrels served as seating.

“We shouldn't stay here long. We need to stitch Furiosa up soon. Make sure nothing gets infected.” Geffy gently stroked Furiosa's hair as they helped her to sit, then began examining her wounds as Skad lifted a cup of water to Furiosa's split lips.

“I'm not a complete invalid yet,” Furiosa said as she tried to paw off their ministrations with her one hand. She took the cup and downed it in seconds, then reached for a bowl after setting the cup down. She put the bowl to her mouth and scraped out its contents with her tongue and teeth.

“What is... that?” Asked Skad.

“Crushed grub, insects, sometimes some lizard. Protein,” Furiosa replied.

The other three tentatively tried the food. Capable had never had this fare before, having been treated to actual vegetation and recognizable meat in the Vault. It wasn't as bad as she feared. Did the War Boys never get any of the green Joe grew above the Citadel? That would have to change.

When they were done, Pang led them to the Organic's, though Capable knew this place well. As he turned to go, Capable took his arm.

“Are you headed back to the lift?”

“Yes. That's my post, and I'm done here.”

“I have a request. If any War Boys return from the road, let them up and make sure they are brought here for medical treatment and... let me know. Please.”

She couldn't tell what expression he wore through his mask, but he nodded his head. “Did... a lot of my brothers die out there? Did they go out historic and witnessed?”

She tried to smile for him. “They were shiny and chrome,” she said, though she didn't really feel it as they'd been trying to take them and kill her friends. “Especially Nux. He was the most chrome, and saved us all.”

He nodded again and left. This may be something that would disappoint her every day, but hope was a hard thing to kill.

When she turned back to the others, Geffy was searching through a cabinet of medical supplies while Skad was taking off Furiosa's top to get to her wounds. She watched as one of the War Pups that had followed them from the lift approached Geffy.

“Mother...?” he said hesitantly.

She looked up from her rummaging. “... yes?”

“Are you here ta fix people? It looks like yer gonna fix Imperator Furiosa. She took things, but brought 'em back, so that's good, right? Are we gonna fix Daddy, too? Organic hasn't come back. Are any of the others comin' back? I heard new Imperator Capable tell Pang they died shiny an' chrome, so that's good, but was it all the boys that left? Will any of 'em come back? Slit an' Morsov're supposed ta train us more with lancin'. I'm gonna be a Lancer!” He gave a toothy grin, showing his was missing one of his front teeth. Capable recognized the name of Slit as Nux's lancer he had told her about. She wondered if this boy had known Nux as well.

Geffy stared at the boy for a moment, at a loss for words. It had been a while since she'd been around someone so young and his verbal onslaught was a lot to take in.

“I'm not... Was the Organic like your doctor? Did he fix people? Did he have anyone he trained, like you're being trained for lancing?” she asked, avoiding his questioning.

“Don't know 'bout doctors, but the Organic Mechanic works on people like Black Thumbs on cars! Fixes 'em right up! Well, if they can be fixed. Some of 'em can't be fixed no more... but yeah! There's lots of other boys that help him. Some're usually around here...” He glanced around. “Kuto! Get over here!” he yelled at a boy who was hiding behind what Capable feared was a dead War Boy. She hoped he was just sleeping. They would need to get more people to work in this area since there were so many sick and injured constantly.

The boy came out slowly. “Yer a Mother?” he directed to Geffy. “What's wrong with the Imperator? Why's a wife out here unguarded? What happened to Daddy?”

Geffy looked to Capable, pleading in her eyes. Capable smiled and stepped forward. These boys made her remember her little brothers fondly from the time before she was taken. She hadn't thought of them in a while. She wondered if any would have become War Boys.

“They are Mothers, in a way. Your... Daddy isn't coming back. He wasn't immortal, as he claimed. No one is. But we're going to take care of you all now. Things will be better than they were before. And I am not a wife anymore. I'm Capable.”

“She's an Imperator now!” the first boy said.

“Oh!” Kuto gave a quick V8 salute. She frowned at that. Was it a show of respect or worship? She knew it was worship with Joe, but she did not want to be worshiped. “Did... did Daddy lie to us? He said he was immortal. Everyone said so. Who's gonna take us to Valhalla?”

“We need clean supplies over here or Furiosa's going to Valhalla sooner than we'd like,” Skad called over.

“Yes, Kuto, could you please help Mother Geffy and Mother Skad fix Furiosa? She was hurt badly, but we need her. This is very important.” Capable knew titles were important to them, which is why she didn't fight being called an Imperator... yet. Slow changes.

He rushed over to inspect Furiosa's wounds. “I can help! I'm a good helper!”

“I'll leave you three to it. I'm sure Furiosa's in good hands now,” Capable said around a smile. She turned and looked down the first Pup, who was still standing beside her, and placed her hand gently on his head. It was smooth. She moved her thumb in a small circle and he leaned into the touch, which reminded her of Nux so much that she felt a pain on her heart. How many of these boys they had thought knew nothing but violence just needed some gentleness to open up? “What's your name?”

“It's Jack. You know, like a car jack! Lifts cars so you can fix under 'em better!”

“Well, Jack, would you and your friends like to show me your lancing skills? Miss Giddy once told me that the best way to learn something better is to teach it to someone else. Your teachers may not be back today, so we'll have to find you new ones soon. If I'm going to be your Imperator, I want to know what you can do.”

The boy beamed and motioned her and the small group of Pups that had come with them from the lift to follow him. “We're gonna be your crew? Will you have a War Rig? Those need lots of lancers! If yer gonna have helper cars, you'll need drivers, too. So we gotta find some of 'em to train. I can't drive yet, but I can almost reach the pedals! I could lance _and_ drive!” She wasn't sure how it was possible, but his face lit up even more.

“Slow down there, little guy. One thing at a time,” She laughed. “Who would be best to teach you how to drive? You said Slit and... Morsov, was it?... taught you lancing. Who's the best Driver?”

“Nux!” One of the other boys replied. “He has the fastest car. Lots o' nitro an' flame pipes! He's kamikrazy! He's gonna start training some o' my friends soon.”

She tried to keep her face neutral. “Could... could you tell me more about Nux?” It was nice to hear him talked about as if he were still alive, simply out.

They all prattled on excitedly, some interjecting about other Drivers and Lancers they thought were better. It seemed the War Boys were quite competitive.

Capable knew that her time alone to grieve may never come at this point. There was just too much to do. But maybe it was okay to at least grieve a little with others. It somehow made it hurt a little less.

\----------------------------------------

It was late when she returned to the Vault. The door was wide open and the guards had been dismissed. She hoped it was never closed again and wondered how hard it would be to remove.

She hesitated before entering and just looked in. The main room was not lit from within, but warm light spilled in from the hallway and bedroom. She could see the stars and moon shining through the dome windows and watched quietly as a satellite passed by. Dag was sitting at the piano, tapping out a soft, but happy tune as Cheedo braided her hair from behind, humming. Toast walked in from the bedroom carrying a bag of random items. “Busy with the Pups, Imperator?” she asked Capable with a mischievous smirk when she saw her.

“How did you know?”

Dag and Cheedo turned when they realized she was there. “Skad and Geffy came by to check on us and told us you'd gone off with a group of them clinging to your skirts like you were the best thing they'd ever seen. Apparently you have a way with them.” Cheedo told her. Dag gave her a slight knowing look.

“Did they say how Furiosa is doing?”

“Resting, seems stable. Down in the Organic's. The women are setting up cots to stay with her while she recovers. They say they want her there in case she needs more treatment. And they want to read through the medical books.” Toast replied.

Cheedo broke in, “I'm going to help them tomorrow. They said that Furiosa ordered a small convoy with some medical supplies go out to recover the injured. They won't be back till sometime tomorrow, but they said they'll need all the help they can get.”

Dag put a hand on her shoulder and whispered something into her ear. Cheedo turned and took her hand. She spoke in a low voice, but Capable could still hear her.

“I know you're worried, but they're all injured and things are changing and they shouldn't hurt us. Capable was out with War Boys and Pups all day and they made her an Imperator. I'll be fine. They need our help now, if any are still alive.”

Dag nodded and kissed Cheedo's forehead before embracing her in a hug. “If any of those schlangers hurt you, I'll bring the fury of the sky itself down upon them.”

“I thought there's no unnecessary violence now?” Toast deadpanned. Dag responded by sticking out her tongue before nuzzling her face in Cheedo's neck.

Toast turned to Capable. “Help me with the beds, will you?”

Capable followed her and asked, “What are you doing?”

“Not sure if I'll stay here or not. Lotta bad memories. But for now, I'm moving my bed out here and suggest you do it as well. I figure the two of them may want some privacy tonight.”

“Oh!” Capable knew that Dag and Cheedo had been close. Dag had been protective of Cheedo the moment the younger girl was brought into the Vault. They slept in the same bed, but had been afraid to show much affection for fear of Joe's retaliation. Dag hadn't feared for herself, but Cheedo had feared for her instead. “Well, okay then.”

After some horribly loud scraping of metal frames on stone floor, Dag and Cheedo came to help so that the beds were carried more easily and quietly. They left Angharad's bed where it was.

“Um, goodnight,” Cheedo said as they pulled the curtain. It wasn't any kind of sound barrier, but it at least gave the semblance of privacy.

After the lights were out, Capable and Toast crawled into their beds and turned towards each other. The night light from the window streamed in, casting a blue glow to the room that was just enough to see each other by.

“Furiosa wants to address everyone soon. I'm surprised she hasn't already.” She spoke quietly.

Toast rolled her eyes. “Those Vuvalini wouldn't let her. They're as much on guard duty to keep her at medical than anything else right now.”

“They tell you that Furiosa named them War Mothers?”

“Yes. Everyone around here responds better to a title. I think we should change the name.”

“The Pups were just calling them Mother. I thought it was sweet.”

“I'd never want to be called a mother. I never want to be a mother. Poor Dag.”

“Shhh, she may hear you.” They were silent a moment. Faint giggling could be heard drifting from behind the curtain. “We should help make this a good experience for her. No one's babies will be Warlords again. And you don't ever have to be a mother. It's your choice.”

Toast smiled at her. “I can already drive okay and shoot well enough to at least not hurt myself, but when Furiosa's well enough, I want her to teach me and then I'll be the best shot. I didn't think much of her before, but after all this... We don't have to be stuck as breeders or milk mothers or down with the Wretched, who we should think of another name for, by the way. We can be what we want. Warriors, if we want. So no one can hurt us again. No one would dare. Do you think they'll start calling me Imperator, too?”

“Sure, Imperator Toast.” Capable laughed.

“It doesn't sound as awful as I feared it would.” Toast and Capable laughed quietly together, but were interrupted by footsteps at the vault door, followed by a torch light.

“Imperator Capable?”

Capable sat up with a jolt. It was Pang. “Yes?”

“You said to let you know if a War Boy returned.” Both girls sat up and stared at him.

“How?” asked Toast. “The convoy couldn't have reached the pass already, let alone return.”

“Our guys intercepted a motorcycle headin' towards the Citadel. One of our vehicles turned back with it. They were carrying a War Boy.”

It couldn't be. She wouldn't get her hopes up. But...

Capable ran.


	2. Found Scrap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not everything is dead out in the desert.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kind reviews on the first chapter! They really are a good motivator for writing. If only there was more time in a day. Sleep will just have to go.
> 
> Thank you to the wonderful Canaricita for making sure I make sense. (Go read her stuff. It's great)

He'd been surprised to find the cab of the War Rig empty. He sighed and looked back out at the orange sands around him, Citadel no longer visible in the distance. The shadows of the rocks were lengthening as sunset approached. Why had he even bothered to look? He knew he would either find a dead body or  scavengers had already taken that body away. Meat was meat.

Max checked his gun again. He needed to keep moving before they came. Wasn't sure if he was more worried about the scavengers or the voices. He hoped Nux wouldn't become one. Or Angharad. He didn't need more ghosts.

Grabbing a satchel from his bike and two empty water skins he'd taken from the Gigahorse, he turned to head back to the tanker. It had been carrying produce and water and he planned to take as much as he could carry. Looking for his Interceptor would come next. As he walked, a flash of paleness and dark red caught his eye. Max dropped the bags and hurriedly limped to the body that was lying face down against the rock face, partially covered in sand.

“Witness me, Bloodbag.”

Max snapped his head around, scanning the horizon again. Nothing. Just movement from the wind.

There was... a lot of blood. He'd expected that. What he didn't expect was feeling warmth to the flesh when he tried to move the body to bury it.

Max rolled Nux towards him so that he was face up and put two fingers to his neck. Definitely a pulse. But his breath came in labored wheezing.

Max examined and cataloged the injuries. It was a little hard to tell with all the sand clinging to Nux, so he unwound the fabric around Nux's left wrist and used a little of the water he did have on him to wet it before cleaning Nux's head and face. Fresh blood oozed from the giant laceration on the top of his head. It seemed swollen, like he'd hit it and gotten a horrible sand burn across the entirety of the top of his head, ripping the skin to shreds. He at least had a concussion, if he woke up at all. Both eyes were blackened, and it wasn't the war paint. He suspected that Nux's nose was broken, possibly not for the first time. His right collar bone didn't look right, probably also broken. His right forearm was a mess. Max could see dark red muscle around one protruding bone just below the metal wrist guard and the whole forearm was bent like it shouldn't be. A few fingers on that hand were crooked, pinky bent back at entirely the wrong angle at the last joint. Fingertips and part of his palm was scraped raw and two nails were entirely gone. He must have tried to catch him self with that hand for all the damage on this side of him. On top of that he saw bruising on his torso, so some ribs were also possibly broken. More sand burn went down his right shoulder and back. He was covered in small cuts and Max went ahead and removed a small piece of shrapnel from his left bicep. More fresh blood, but at least the wound wasn't too deep. He couldn't tell very much about the lower half of the body without taking off Nux's pants and boots, but figured that clothing had protected him enough to not need to check right then.

Gingerly, Max lifted Nux's head into his lap to try to pour a trickle of water down his throat. When he opened Nux's mouth, he saw that he'd bitten his tongue. It was swollen but still attached, and would probably need stitches as well. Now that Max thought about it, Nux may choke if he tried to give him water while unconscious. The only reason Nux hadn't choked on his own blood was because he had landed face down.

Max looked at his own injured hand. It had limited movement until it healed more, but would be good enough for this. And he knew it would hurt Nux more than it hurt him. He braced Nux's head between his thighs, placed his palms against either side of Nux's nose, and with a loud crack, set it.

The boy shot up with a gasp. Then a coughing fit hit and he fell back down and rolled over onto his side. His nose was gushing blood again, so Max couldn't tell if he was also coughing up blood. He cautiously patted Nux on the head until his coughing subsided, then handed him the not quite empty water canteen and tried to help him sit up.

Nux looked at it as if not really seeing it, then gulped it down before coughing some more. He collapsed against Max, mumbling something he couldn't quite make out. Was he passing out again? If he did have a concussion, Max would have to keep him awake.

“Hey, hey. Nux, look at me,” Max said while tapping Nux's cheek. He blearily opened his eyes. Crazy bright blue as Max had remembered. Not dead.

“Blood.. bag?”

“Mmm.” He looked back at the sand again. He hated this. But maybe the kid deserved to know, too.

“Max.”

“Hmmm...?” Nux was slipping again.

He pulled Nux upright. “My name is Max.” He felt as if this was a repeat of Furiosa. But she had lived and he couldn't give blood again so soon.

Nux opened his eyes again and gave a small smile. “Tha's a funny name.” He went to bump his forehead against Max's, but Max pulled back, worried the boy would hurt himself further. Maybe he didn't realize just how injured he was.

Nux looked at him as if he'd been horribly rejected. “Oh.” He turned away.

“Hey now, don't... don't move much. Your, ah, head. It doesn't need more bumps.” He put his hand on Nux's uninjured shoulder and Nux still tried to lean into it.

“I'm... I'll be right back. Don't move. Don't sleep.” Max propped Nux up against the rock face and gathered his satchel and water skins again. When he glanced at Nux, the boy was cradling his right arm with his left and staring wide-eyed at the wreckage, seeing it for the first time.

“Glory be...”

Max left the boy and stepped around the War Rig and the debris. He was confused as to why there seemed to be multiple trumpets until he looked up at the monstrosity of speakers and remembered the music of War that had been following them. The eyeless figure in the red clothing was hanging limply in his cords, guitar hanging just in front of him. As Max got closer, he saw the twitch of fingers. He stopped in his tracks. So Nux wasn't the only one who lived. He thought that this man was awake; it was hard to tell with the eyeless sockets, but upon closer inspection, it seemed he was simply moving his fingers in his sleep. Playing a guitar, even in his dreams.

Quietly, Max ducked into the opening at the bottom of the tanker. The greens were wilted, but should still be good. He half filled the satchel with them, then looked for other fruit or vegetables. He found radishes, tomatoes, peppers, and squash. He ate a tomato as he shoved as much as he could into the bag. He almost groaned. It had been so long since he'd had fresh fruit.  
After exiting the tanker, he crouched to where the water spout was now just against the ground. It was beside the one for Mother's Milk, but he didn't think he wanted any of that. He wasn't sure how long that kept in the heat of the desert. He had to dig a little to have enough space to hold his water skins under the opening before turning the handle. Water gushed from the spout. He drank as much as he could without feeling sick before filling his water skins and turning the spout back off.

As Max stood, he heard a rhythmic metallic strumming coming from the speaker rig. He looked over to see that the eyeless man was awake and seemed to be looking right at him, though he knew he wasn't really.

Max contemplated just walking away, but knew it would probably be hours before someone from the Citadel came for any kind of retrieval. “Do you want water?”

The fingers moved faster along the cords, but the man said nothing. The fingers stopped and Max asked again, “Water?” The fingers moved along the cords again in the same pattern, but again the man said nothing.

“Can... you speak?”

The man's fingers moved again, a different set of cords, and his frown deepened. That must be a no.

Max approached him and uncorked a water skin. “Gonna put this to your mouth,” he warned.

The man's mouth opened to reveal a graveyard of teeth. He drank while never removing his hands from his guitar. Max noted that the cord connecting it to the speakers was broken, which must be why it's noises were so quiet now.

The guitar made a small screech as the man ran his fingernails up the cords. Max pulled away the water skin and the man smiled, open mouthed and a little unnerving.

Max nodded, then realized that the man couldn't see that. “I'm gonna... go.” The man's smile vanished. “But others are coming. From the Citadel. You won't be here... long.” He hoped.

The man still frowned, but moved his hands slowly along the cords again. Max had no idea what he was trying to communicate, but assumed he was okay with Max leaving. He kind of had to be.

“I don't... have room. But you'll be okay. I promise.” He winced at that and was glad the man couldn't see. That was something he tried to never promise anyone again. He always broke those kind of promises. Now he had to make sure someone came back for him from the Citadel.

He turned and walked back to the tanker, topping off the water skin before heading back to Nux, who was, thankfully, still conscious.

“I heard cords. Was that the Doof Warrior? He's alive?”

That was his name? Makes a kind of sense, though Max doubted it was his real name. “Yeah,” he replied before pulling out one of the tomatoes and handing it to Nux.

Nux's eyes widened in awe as he took the tomato as if it were the most precious thing. “I can have the whole thing? I've seen Imperators eat these. I've never had one before...” He licked it before taking a huge bite, juice dribbling down his chin. “Ohhhhh...” He practically inhaled the rest. He licked the juice from his long fingers, oblivious to the sand and grime also covering them. He looked up at Max with a kind of reverence in his eyes. He looked like a beaten child now with is war paint gone and tomato juice around his mouth. Max wiped it away with the cloth from before. Nux looked at it and furrowed his brow.

“That's... Capable's. Capable! Did she and the others make it to the Citadel? Did Furiosa...?” He bit his lip and touched his side where Furiosa had been stabbed.

“They did. She's alive.”

Nux's shoulders sagged in relief. It was a little crazy how much they'd all come to worry about each others' well being by the end of their journey. Even this boy, who'd started out against them.

Max reached for Nux's broken arm and Nux let him take it. Max poured some of the newly acquired water over it to flush out the sand and Nux winced and hissed in pain.

“Gonna be useless... so mediocre...”

“No. Can be set. Taking you back.”

Nux made a non-committal whimper as Max began to wrap the fabric into a makeshift sling that tied over Nux's left shoulder, right beside the two lumps. Their little faces had been rubbed away.

“Can you stand?”

“I think so. Nothing seems broken past my ribs, at least.” Max wrapped an arm around Nux, careful to avoid the dark bruises that marked part of his rib cage, and stood.

“Woo... head rush...” Nux muttered before leaning heavily against Max again. Max felt hot breath against his neck, sending goosebumps down the rest of his body. He shook it off, which caused Nux to thankfully raise his head again.

Max limped them both over to the motorcycle and had Nux sit again while he strapped the satchel and water skins to the bike. He pulled some rope from his bag before helping Nux climb onto the bike behind him.

“Gonna tie you to me. So you don't fall off.” With Nux only having one usable arm, him staying on the bike unaided was highly unlikely. Reaching backwards to pass the rope around Nux was awkward and he hoped it didn't move to dig into any of his cracked ribs. Still, that would be better than Nux falling off and hitting his head again. He wouldn't survive much more of that.

When the rope was secure and tied in front of him, Max started the bike and drove back towards the direction of the Citadel. Nux rested his chin on Max's shoulder and was warm where he pressed against Max's back. Too warm? A fever? Maybe it would be alright after the sun went down and the air chilled.

Neither spoke during most of the ride, which was normal for Max, who appreciated the silence. Someone else's presence always seemed to keep the voices at bay. Every once in a while he'd ask, “Awake?” to which Nux would mumble a reply. He was obviously in pain and more tired the longer they drove.

Just after the sun had set, they came over a dune and the Citadel was in sight. But more visible were the headlights quickly approaching them. The sound of his motorcycle's engine and wind in his ears had been enough to drown out the sound of them. Fuck. He couldn't tell if they were from the Citadel or if they were buzzards based on the headlights in the dark. He'd have to take a chance. But he stopped the bike and put his hand on his gun, just in case, and waited for them to bridge the distance.

The cars stopped about ten feet from the bike. They left their lights on, putting Max at a disadvantage for sight. Someone got out of the passenger side door and approached. Max could see in the silhouette that a gun was raised. He raised his own. Nux clung to him a little tighter.

“What business do you have on the Citadel's turf?” Called a voice. Nux raised his head.

“... Ace?”

The man slowly lowered his gun. “Nux? Is that you?”

Max breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his gun as well. He heard more car doors open and a few War Boys and even Pups stepped into the light.

“They said you were dead. You went out historic and everything,” said one of the Pups.

“The gates to Valhalla closed on me a fourth time. I guess they don't want me.”

“I'm sorry,” said the Pup.

“It must have been my Manifest Destiny not to go.” Max wondered where the hell he would have learned such a phrase. He felt Nux shift. “Ace, I thought you were dead, too.”

“Nah. She broke my nose, but thankfully no one ran me over after I fell from the Rig. It was a long walk back to the Citadel. But as soon as I saw her again in the Organic's, she sent me back out to work. Probably's afraid to really talk to me. Knows I'm mad at her.”

“For betraying Joe?”

“No, for betraying me. And our crew. Got about the whole lot of us killed with that stunt. If she just trusted a little more... But oh, well. What's done is done. How're you faring?” He walked up to the pair of them, giving Max a cursory glance before taking Nux by the chin to tilt his head. Ace pursed his lips. “Surprised you're awake. And alive, frankly. We've got a few medical supplies with us. Were on our way to look for survivors. Gonna send some more pullers in the morning to retrieve vehicles and scrap. They said it was more important to get the boys first. Cars keep better'n people.”

“There's ah...” Max started. “A man in cords. In red. He's alive.”

“Coma?! Well, that's good news.” Max's eyebrows drew together in confusion. Coma? Didn't Nux say his name was Doof? “Lots of folks will be happy to hear that the Herald survived.” Max thought that was too many names for one person.

“You gonna take him back to the Citadel?” Ace asked, tilting his head towards Nux. “Some of them'll be happy to see him, too, I'm sure.”

“Leaving him with you. I'm gonna make my own way.” He heard a small whimper behind him and wondered if Nux was in a lot of pain.

“Well, okay then. Let's get you two unhitched from each other and we'll send Nux back in the smallest car-”

“No.”

Ace looked at Nux.

“Max... stay with me,” the boy said softly. “Please.”

Shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't see Ace being dead, either.


	3. Hurting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Lots of fairly graphic depictions of pain and rough medical surgery in the first bit. If you're squeamish, you may want to skip the first several paragraphs.
> 
> Canaricita is the beta babe.

“Bite down on this, son. It's gonna hurt.”

A thick leather belt was placed between his teeth. A Pup held his elbow and one of the older women held his wrist. They'd already removed the metal wrist guard with a screw driver, so the grip was sure. His arm was flayed open. He didn't think it could hurt worse than it already did. And then they pulled his arm apart.

“NNNnnnnn!!!” Nux's body twitched, though he tried to stay still. He would not be mediocre. His arm bent and it was wrong and the second woman slowly - too slowly, when would it end - pushed a thin line of metal into each of the visible bones, as if she was starting to carefully clean the barrel of a gun. Then the agony somehow blossomed into something raging from the pits of Hell as they pushed the bones back together, the pieces of metal that were sticking out going into the opposite bone until they were seated and flush.

His leg pounded the floor. Sweat coated his body. Water leaked from his eyes. He didn't care if someone saw at this moment. He just wanted it to be over. Needle and thread came out and it wasn't over.

Nux alternated between glimpses of what they were doing to his arm, looking up at nothing at all, and to Capable beside him, holding his other hand, tears streaming down her own face and her eyes on him and it was too much.

He tried his best not to squeeze her hand too hard. Or move that arm much. Red tubing ran from his arm and back behind him where he knew the other was perched, sitting in one of the cages. She wasn't locked in, though. Her legs dangled freely and her dark eyes watched him intently, last time he looked. Turns out Toast had universal blood, too. They'd elevated her so that the blood flowed down to him more easily. He vaguely wondered if he was losing blood faster than she could give. He wished the arm would just go numb. Would it have been easier if they just cut the damn thing off?

After what felt like an eternity, the last stitch was tied off. He sagged in relief and immediately yelped and practically jumped out of the chair as they'd already moved on to his fingers, pulling and snapping them back into place before wrapping them along with some slightly curved bits of thin metal. After that, one woman began sewing the largest cut on the top of his head while the other did the same to the shrapnel cut on his left arm. His right arm still hurt worse than their sewing.

Finally, they both stepped back to assess their work.

“Time for that collarbone. It'll be done similar to the arm.”

They didn't get far into the process before Nux lost consciousness.

\--------------------

An acrid, harsh smell brought him back to the world.

“Welcome back to the land of the living,” one of the women said, too cheerfully. “At least you didn't have to feel all of that part.”

A Pup was backing away from him while screwing a lid back onto a small glass jar.

“Gonna clean you up, get you bandaged, and then it's rest for you,” the second woman said. Nux had heard their names earlier, but couldn't tell them apart at the moment. They were both nothing but harbingers of pain to him at this point.

“His tongue,” Max said. “Also needs stitches.”

Nux looked at Max. Why would he betray him like that? He couldn't take any more.

“M'fine,” he said as both women tried to peer into his mouth at once.

“Come, now. We have to fix everything proper or it will never heal right,” said the one with two large braids.

“It doesn't look too bad,” said the other. “You can still move it to talk. But a few small stitches will help it heal faster and stronger so you can put it to better use later.” She smiled as if she'd told a joke and took a side glance at Capable. Nux didn't understand.

“Open up, relax your tongue, and close your eyes.”

“Kuto, be a dear and hold his head still.”

The sound Nux made was quite undignified.

\--------------------

“Why'd 'ou dehugh dem bou' mah 'ongue?”

Nux frowned at the twitch he saw at the corner of Max's mouth. He knew he sounded ridiculous, but Max didn't have to laugh about it.

“Eh houhdsh worsh 'ow dah behore,” Nux pouted.

“It'll get better.” Max replied, crossing his arms. Despite the tongue incident, Nux was glad that Max had stayed with him. _Just until you're well enough._

Nux felt a soft hand stroke the side of his neck. “Nux, you're not supposed to be talking. You don't want to pull a stitch and start bleeding again,” Capable said next to his ear. Her breath tickled him and he shivered, turning to face her as much as the sling would let him. They were sitting on a cot with their backs to the stone wall. Turning had hurt. But then again, everything hurt.

A deep crease was etched between her eyebrows. She looked worried and exhausted, but at least she wasn't crying anymore. He never wanted to make her cry again. He tried to give her a reassuring smile and gently bumped his forehead to hers. He heard Max grunt, followed by that distinctive limping gait, receding. Everyone else had already left, except the harbingers, who were asleep on the floor near Furiosa's cot. Nux supposed she'd woken up when he was being worked on and he felt a little bad about making all that noise. He knew she'd been awake as he'd heard her talking quietly with Max for a little bit after the worst parts were over. She was sleeping soundly now.

“I just want you to be well,” Capable continued. “I thought you were dead. You died. So we could be free. I thought I could be okay with that. Make myself okay. But you're not dead. I didn't think you'd come back. But now, I want you to stay. I don't want you chasing after Valhalla again. You silly War Boy.”

He saw tears forming in her eyes. Oh, no. “O'gh crai.” He tried to lift his hand to her face, but it was the wrong one and the ache that was his arm morphed into grating pains and he tried not to show it, but he must have because her tears did fall. Her hands reached to embrace him, but she pulled back as if afraid to touch him.

“Oh, Nux. I don't know how to help you not hurt. After what you did, you don't deserve this pain.”

“Eh wou' oo ih agaigh. Fogh 'ou.”

“Shhhh...” She carefully ran her fingers across his lips. It felt just as good as back on the War Rig. “You should at least lie down and try to rest. I think it's almost morning.” She yawned, which made him yawn immediately. “Is it alright if I sleep here... with you? And don't speak,” she added, while placing a single finger against his lips.

Nux nodded and rubbed his scarred lips up and down her finger. He felt her open her other palm against his cheek. She was so soft. So Shiny. So Chrome. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feel of her hands on him as he slowly nuzzled into her touch. He could forget about the pain when she touched him.

Capable helped him carefully lie on his back on the cot, careful not to jostle his right arm in its sling, before she laid herself out against his left side, pressed close in the narrow space.

“I want to stay with you tomorrow, but there's a lot we all need to do. I'm sure you'll be in good hands here for a bit.”

Nux glanced dubiously toward the sleeping women.

“I'll stay with you as much as I can. I'm not abandoning you. But the people here need a leader, some kind of guidance. Furiosa wants to address everyone tomorrow. They've respected her and I hope they can put their trust in her again. I want to help her. I'm not sure exactly what my role will be in all of this. Or Toast or Dag or Cheedo. It's not just us who are free now; it's everyone. No one has to stay in the roles they were forced into. I feel as if it's the calm before the storm. It will be hard for many to relinquish their allegiance to Joe, especially the Boys that will be brought back tomorrow. They went out to fight for him. To bring us back. They won't be happy to return and discover that their “god” is dead. Was never a god at all. So many lies. He used up so many people in so many ways...”

Nux shifted his good hand, searching for hers. Their fingers entwined.

“But I should let you sleep. You'll need plenty of rest so you can heal faster.” She yawned again. “Good night, Nux.”

“Googh 'igh'.”

“Shhhhh...”

They laid in silence after that, the only sound was their breathing and the occasional snore from one of the women on the floor. Capable's breathing became shallow and he knew she'd fallen asleep, too.

Nux stared at the faint flickering light on the ceiling, cast by the partially shuttered lamp on the Organic's desk. He looked over to it and squinted. He'd been in the nearby Blood Shed countless times on his way to retrieve his wheel and a few times for top-ups, but had never been in the Organic Mechanic's personal work space before. The lamp sat beside a metal thing with a gear and a spyglass scope pointing to some glass that Nux thought someone had spilled blood on. Beside that was a large bound stack of paper. Apparently that was where the Organic kept records of a lot of things. It's how they knew Toast could give him her blood. She had done it willingly. He smiled at the memory of her pointing a gun at him just the other day.

How could Capable not understand him being willing to give his life for them when they were willing to give him so much as well? She gave him kindness and soft touches and listened to him and made him feel like he was worth something. Not nothing. Gave him something to hope for other than a place in Valhalla. Furiosa gave him her trust to drive the War Rig. Shit. He hoped she wasn't mad that he'd crashed it. Maybe enough of it was salvageable... Max had encouraged him on the road, even brought him a replacement boot when he didn't have to...

_I got the blood bag's boot!_

Nux's heart skipped, then dropped. Slit. He'd heard him scream, “Valhalla!” Heard screeching metal. Then he was gone. Nux hadn't even been able to get out from under the Rig in time to witness him. The last words Slit had said to him were, “Filth!” and, “You traitored him!”

But Nux felt like he'd traitored Slit. His Lancer. His best mate.

Slit was the one who always pushed him to go further. Knew how to push his buttons. If it wasn't for him, Nux wouldn't have even gone out on the Fury Road. Would have just watched everyone go by with their own wheels. Been mediocre.

Slit prided himself in being strong. Had always been competitive. He refused to spend time with anyone he considered mediocre. But he stuck with Nux. Even when he was sick and felt like rust. Nux knew that because Slit stuck by him, he wasn't mediocre. That is why Slit pushed Nux so hard. Was hard on anyone he actually cared about. Because Slit didn't hang out with mediocre rust. And when it was just the two of them, Slit would let his guard down. Let Nux see him without all the posturing. Let him close. Held him when the night fevers came. Let him be soft in moments of weakness.

Nux felt water slipping from his eyes again, rolling down the sides of his head and into the dips and curves of his ears. Even with someone as shine as Capable sleeping beside him, he felt pretty mediocre now.

He'd let Slit die unwitnessed. Maybe if he'd tried to reason with Slit when they were on the hoods of their vehicles, he could have convinced him. Shown him that this was the right way. Maybe Slit wouldn't have had to die at all.

Capable said he didn't deserve the pain. But Nux clenched his right hand as hard as he could and bit his lip to keep the sounds in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently I like torturing Nux? I'm sorry.
> 
> I tried talking without moving my tongue to hear what it would sound like for Nux's stitched tongue dialogue. Thankfully I was home alone at the time.
> 
> Translations (in case you couldn't understand him):  
> “Why'd you tell them about my tongue?” “I sound worse now than before.” “Don't cry.” “I would do it again. For you.” “Good night.”


	4. Morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was going to be longer, but I decided to split it. 
> 
> Thank you again Canaricita for being such a wonderful beta!

She woke to the sound of hushed voices. By the feel of her head, she knew she hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep. She didn't want to open her eyes yet.

Capable felt the presence of a warm body in front of her, a hand in her hand, but couldn't remember which Sister she'd fallen asleep with the night before. She would steal their body heat anyway. She draped her arm and leg over their body and froze. Rough fabric and metal bits scraped her leg. Ridged scars over a flat chest slid under her fingers. Her pulse quickened as night came back to her and she opened her eyes.

Larry and Barry greeted her, though their faces had been washed away. She narrowed her eyes at them and pressed herself closer to Nux, wrapping herself around him protectively. They were another thing that could take away him again. She thought of last night, when Nux's arm was viciously cut open so that Skad and Geffy could get to his bones and clean the torn tissue. She wondered if he could be opened and the two lumps removed in much the same fashion. Maybe one of the many books in this room explained how to do it. There hadn't been one that mentioned it in the Vault, but there were about as many books here, if not more, and she assumed most of them must have medical knowledge. So many of the War Boys had these same kind of bumps and she never heard of the Organic even attempting to remove them. Maybe he just didn't care to spend the time on it. Maybe it wasn't possible...

She pressed her hand flat upon Nux's chest, feeling reassured at the steady heartbeat she felt; smiled at the rise and fall of his chest. He was here and safe and it was as if a weight had been lifted. A wistful sigh passed her lips and she tilted her head up to look at his face to find his blue eyes already looking back down at her. They were bloodshot and red rimmed. She wondered if he had slept at all.

“Hi,” she said, ducking her head and feeling a little shy now that she knew he'd been awake and probably watching her for some time this morning. She turned her eyes back to him over the curve of his shoulder, her hands now resting on his bicep, careful not to touch the fresh stitches.

“Hi.” His voice sounded scratchy and rough, but he had a smile for her.

“Hi!” came a voice to Capable's back.

With a start, Capable quickly rolled back and promptly fell out of the small cot and onto the hard stone floor. “Ah!”

Nux tried to sit up and reach for her, but fell back onto the cot with a groan. Cheedo knelt and extended her hand to help Capable back up. “Sorry! Didn't mean to startle you!”

Capable took the offered hand, though she didn't really need the help. Cheedo looked well rested and practically glowed with cheerfulness. Capable envied her. Dag appeared behind Cheedo and peered at Nux over the shorter girl's shoulder.

“Crash any War Rigs lately?” She tilted her head to lay it on Cheedo's shoulder, not removing her eyes from Nux as she took in the sight of his battered body.

Cheedo turned to Nux and her expression changed to one of pity. “H-how are you feeling?”

“Yike rush'.”

“Huh?”

“I'm fairly certain he said, 'like rust.' He bit his tongue when he crashed the Rig. Skad and Geffy sewed it up last night, along with everything else,” Capable gestured to the general state of his body. She saw his eyes furtively dart around the room at the mention of their names. He clutched his right arm. “Oh, Nux. They're not going to open your arm again. It's okay.”

“Da crash wash bedder dan wha' dey did do me. I don' remember mosh' o' da' crash. Or afder.” He rolled onto his good side and curled in on himself. Capable didn't think it was possible for her heart to ache for him more. Life was supposed to be better for him now, not so awful that he'd prefer being in a car crash. What could she do? She leaned over him to carefully wrap an arm around him, hair falling onto his shoulders.

“With all the carvings you boys do to yourselves, I always thought you enjoyed pain.”

Capable glared up at Dag. Honestly, the girl had no filter sometimes. Even Cheedo gave Dag a somewhat reproachful look.

“Shnot da shame. Onwy shkin deep. Chosen. I' meansh shomefing.”

“Sorry. I shouldn't make assumptions,” Dag admitted.

Capable felt Nux nod beneath her. “Sh'a'righ'. I made ashumpshonsh abou' yo'sh o' peopuh.”

He leaned up into the touch as Capable stroked his cheek. “I yike when you 'ouch me.” He said softly. “Makesh da pain no' sho bad.” She was only too glad to be able to help and began rubbing his face with both hands. He hummed contentedly and smiled. It was so good to see him smile. She continued to rub his face and neck, not daring to venture to much else yet. His good side was under him, and everything else above the waist was a giant bruise, cut, or broken. Just thinking of touching him lower gave her a sense of panic that she knew she'd have to get over eventually. He was not Joe.

“So, here is our heroic War Boy, returned from the dead.”

Capable sat back from Nux to see Furiosa, standing unassisted and regarding Nux. Dag and Cheedo turned to leave them.

“I'm glad you're alive,” Cheedo told Nux.

“I'm happy that Valhalla spit you back out for our fire sister.” Dag called over her shoulder.

Furiosa frowned at Nux as she assessed the damage, but looked him in the eyes as she gave a quick nod, mouth beginning to curve into a small smile. A lot seemed to be said in that small gesture.

Capable watched Nux's eyes widen as he looked Furiosa up and down, eyes lingering on the stitching at her side. The Mothers had put her linen top back on, at least. “Yer a'righ'.” His smile was infectious.

“And so are you. But I heard that you shouldn't be talking yet...?”

“I...” He glanced at Capable, then cast his eyes down abashedly.

Capable broke in, “I'm sorry. I kept him from talking as much as I could last night, but... I still haven't gotten a good chance to really talk to him yet, so was enjoying it for a small while.”

“I understand. Though if you still want to help me, I will be going to Tower One to address everyone from the mouth after we’ve all had something to eat.” As if on cue, two Pups entered with trays of jugs, cups, and shallow bowls. Capable turned to help Nux sit up, but he was already rising, supporting himself with his good hand.

Furiosa walked away to sit on her cot and eat while Capable helped Nux. It was slow going and she was thankful that the food was already mush, so he didn't need to use his tongue much. He did not seem to have the same qualms about being helped as Furiosa had. “You should rinse your mouth _slowly_ ,” Capable said while tipping the cup of water to his lips. Nux still drank the water too fast and almost choked for a second, water slipping down his chin. “Careful,” she laughed and wiped the droplets away, letting her hand linger on his lips again. She thought she would always enjoy the feel of his scarred lips. She brushed her thumb along the ridges and his mouth parted, tongue just peaking out to taste her.

His warm tongue slid along her thumb as she began to dip it into his mouth, feeling a little dazed at the sensation of his lips closing around the tip of the digit. Her heart fluttered and she leaned in, eyes on his mouth as she removed her thumb and stroked it down his chin.

“Is... is there anything else you need before we go?”

Nux's eyebrows shifted in uncertainty and he made a small keening noise, then gestured towards his crotch. Heat bloomed across her face and she quickly pulled back.

“You... I'm... not ready for... Here? What?” Capable stammered, fear and confusion evident on her face.

He seemed equally confused by her reaction and, after a moment of thought, clarified, “Godda pish.”

She felt light headed at the relief. Verbal communication was very helpful.

“Oh, thank goodness. I mean... That's good you're getting enough water.” Capable stood and hoped no one noticed how red she probably was. Her ears felt hot and she heard a slight ringing and the rush of her own pulse.

“Um, do you need any help or...”

He shook his head and she felt more relief wash over her. She knew she would have to get over this eventually. Nux was not Joe. Far from it. She would have to keep telling herself that, but she couldn't help her reactions.

“I'm going with Furiosa and the other Wi- my Sisters, to talk to everyone. Try to work out some kind of new... something. That will work for _everyone_. Will you be fine if we leave you for a while?”

“He'll be fine here with us,” Geffy called over.

Capable could feel Nux begin to breathe more heavily and he clutched at her arm.

“I'll, uh, I'll watch the kid.”

She turned to see Max leaning against the entryway. How long had he been there?

“Macksh!” Nux rushed over to Max and ruffled his hair good-naturedly, to which Max grunted, but didn't make any moves to stop it.

Capable was happy to be able to leave Nux in the care of someone who didn't terrify him. She wondered how long he would fear them. She knew they were only trying to help, but then, Nux did also watch them kill a lot of his former brothers... Trust was a shaky thing.

She walked up to the two men, Nux's hand still on Max's shoulder. “He seems to feel better when someone touches him, or he's touching someone,” Capable told Max. He glanced at Nux's hand on him and gave another grunt.

“Also he's not allowed to talk more than strictly necessary due to the stitches.”

Nux opened his mouth and pointed at his tongue, looking at Max accusingly. He outwardly seemed more upset about his tongue than any of his other injuries, though she knew the setting of the broken bones hit him worst of all. She imagined Max and Nux's communications through gesturing and grunts and tried to stifle a laugh. The both looked at her with raised eyebrows.

“Nothing. I'm just... you boys have fun. Oh, and Nux has to relieve himself, so I'll leave you two to it.” Capable and Nux shared a look while she stroked his face again, then turned to join Furiosa before turning back again.

“And Max? Thank you. Thank you for everything. For...” she let her gaze linger on Nux before retreating again.

She heard the boys start to shuffle away. “C'mon,” she heard Max start, then pause and ask, “Uh, where to?”

She smiled and wished for a moment that she could be a fly on the wall to follow them. But she had other things to attend to.

Furiosa stood when she approached. Her forehead was blackened again. Apparently someone had brought her some grease. She held out the small container and shard of mirror to Capable.

“Ready?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nux's speech is a little more comprehensible than the previous night, but still not 100%.
> 
> “Like rust.” “The crash was better than what they did to me. I don't remember much of the crash. Or after.” “It's not the same. Only skin deep. Chosen. It means something.” “It's alright. I made assumptions about lots of people.” “I like when you touch me. Makes the pain not so bad.” “You're Alright.” “Gotta piss.” “Max!”


	5. Scattered Pieces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! Will have two more chapters up fairly soon. All your comments make me happy! :D
> 
> Thank you again to the lovely Canaricita for beta reading.

True to the man's word, Coma was the first one they found. The Pups whooped and hollered as he was unhooked from the cables in the predawn light. Their optimism was contagious. It seemed too good to be true that the first person found was both alive and relatively unharmed. It boded so well. When they were finally able to shift the wreckage over enough to get through the canyon space, however, the desolation ahead of them put a damper on the good mood.

Ace squinted at the slowly climbing sun before pulling his goggles back over his eyes. Furiosa hadn't sent an Imperator with them. Hell, every one but her might be dead, so he was the next best thing to these Pups and green Black Thumbs. A Pup had told him that one of the wives had become an Imperator. They were full-lives, sure, but he found it hard to believe that one of them had already been through all the training or climbed the ranks proper. You couldn't just hand out titles like that. The Immortan was dead, but some kind of understandable order had to be kept or everything would fall into chaos. Titles had to be earned if they were to mean anything at all.

The boys were all quiet as they searched the main pile-up of wreckage. Nothing but dead bodies. Even scattered out from the wreckage. All dead. He had hoped they'd be taking home more than heads and clothes today. Surely some more must have survived.

It was too quiet.

“We figured you lot'd be back.”

Ace's head snapped up and he saw them. About a dozen Rock Riders were perched high above, guns trained on the group on the ground. This wasn't good.

“We don't want any trouble. Just gettin' ours.” Ace called up, dropping his gun. It wouldn't do him any good from down here. He raised his hands in a placating gesture and hoped to Hell they would be reasonable. Damn Furiosa. She had pissed off too many people.

“And what'll we get? You won't find shit down there,” one of the masked men laughed. Ace assumed he was their leader, but he sounded young.

“What do you want?”

“Guzzoline! Revenge! The War Rig took too many of our good men when it first came through. And so, we took some of yours. Did a sweep through to get rid of the remaining... pests. No Valhalla for those boys. Oh, no. No witnessing for them. Cut their throats and turned our backs.”

Ace could hear one of the Pups starting to cry. He pursed his lips and clenched his fists, but gave no reply. This man was clearly trying to rev him up.

More laughter from the man up high. “So, the bitch dead?”

“Who do you mean?” Ace knew who he meant, but would not refer to her as a bitch, despite his growing anger at the mess she'd made.

“Furiosa, you dumb fuck! We had a deal! She barged through here and blew up our guzzoline instead of leaving it for us. Killed our guys so she wouldn't have to make good.”

Ace could work with this, get them out alive. “We'll make it good. You'll get the guzzoline. We can continue to trade. Don't do anything more stupid than you already have, boy.”

“Don't insult me. You're just an old man.”

“Yeah? Well I'm strong enough to've survived this long. And I know a thing or two. You need to be on the Citadel's good side. And Gastown. And The Bullet Farm. You're pissin' off all three. And why? Because you're mad some of your boys got theirs? They were gonna die sooner or later. We're just a small convoy here. If we don't get back, they'll sic a war party on you. That, or never trade again. Snap you every time you leave your precious canyon. You'll all starve and die slow. Bad way to go.”

The one who had been speaking paused at this, then drew his gun directly on Ace. Fuck. Maybe that wasn't the right thing to say. His fingers itched for his grenade launcher, but it was sitting useless in the cab. He hadn't lived nearly seventeen-hundred days to die like this. All of them shot like lizards in a barrel. Under his watch.

One of the other Riders put their hand on the young man's shoulder and seemed to be saying something, but Ace couldn't make it out. The young leader lowered his gun.

“We'll trade... but it will be to my liking! We'll let you see if any of yours are still alive in here. Take what you want of the dead. But any cars that are inside the canyon walls are _ours_.”

“Fair enough. Does this mean we can pass through to look for survivors and cars on the other side of the canyon? Outside your territory? There are some out there we were told to bring back.”

The man stood to his full height, tone haughty, even through the mask. “As a show of my good will, we'll let you through... today. But after that, until we get our guzzoline, this pass will be closed to you lot. I don't see any pullers to take wreckage, so I know you'll wanna come back. And unless Furiosa herself delivers that guzzoline, she won't get _this_.” He held up something metal, sunlight glinting from its odd angles, leather belts dangling. Furiosa's arm.

\----------------------------------------

The tension in the air while they waited for their convoy to return was palpable. The Rock Riders remained on their high ground, watching the remaining Boys and Pups, mostly silent. Occasionally, the Riders would break out into squabbles among themselves. It seemed that one of the Riders that had been killed when Furiosa first passed through had been their leader. The kid that had taken over, Ace learned that his name was Siphus, had a tenuous hold at best.

Ace had stayed behind with some Black thumbs and Pups while half the group had taken three vehicles far out past the canyon. He had been given specific instructions to bring back the body of the favored wife. The Splendid. The wives told him her name was Angharad. The dead, or parts of them, were usually brought back if it was convenient. Skulls of those who died historic were considered good luck on a vehicle. However, this was not a particularly convenient retrieval and there were plenty of bodies in the canyon. They wanted her for reasons that had been discouraged in the War Boys. Didn't mean it didn't still happen sometimes. Ace had been filled in on what had happened on the Fury Road. He thought much of it was a damn shame. Too many lives lost. Too much death. Thinking about it made him feel old. And tired.

The sun was past its zenith and a soft tune emanated from Coma's guitar. It didn't sound quite right without the speakers to amplify it, but it was still comforting. All the Boys were gathered around the Herald, seeking solace in his presence and the melodic tones. Rhythmic tapping came from the Drummer whose back was against Coma. The only person touching him. The Drummer, Brag, had survived by hiding under one of his fellow drummers and playing dead. Two other War Boys had joined them. They'd been properly good at tucking and rolling when their vehicles crashed. They'd also been good at hiding.

The dead of the canyon were organized into piles. A few mostly intact bodies would go back to become compost for the Citadel's green plateaus. These were the Boys whose throats had been cut and had died unwitnessed. The rest of the dead were separated into three distinct sections. Pants, heads, and the bodies, laid out in neat rows with arms crossed over chests. They would become food for crows. Be lifted in them to soar into the sky. The heads would be left outside the Citadel for much the same treatment. It brought the crows in. Crow tasted good if you could catch one.

Ace was beginning to relax while watching the musician until he noticed the Rock Riders had perked up. They had noticed something at a distance he couldn't see. Their altitude had several advantages. He kept his eyes on them until he could hear car motors. His Boys had returned.

He stood and walked toward the approaching cars, trying to not hope for much. The cars stopped and Boys began exiting the cars. Some he recognized, others must have been from the Bullet Farm or Gastown. Some still wearing their masks. They were in various states of injury, but for the most part seemed... okay. They were conscious and, except for one, could walk unassisted. He counted nine all together.

“Ace,” a Black Thumb named Cork said. “There's some real bad off over 'ere. And the wife. What's left of 'er.” The Boy led him around to the back of a truck. In the bed where there had been a plow were six bodies. Were they all dead?

He saw what must have been the Splendid. White linens wrapped her body and golden hair fluttered softly in the wind. Beside her was a History Woman, frail body covered in tattoos. The crows had been at them both.

“Cover 'em up. Pups don't need to see that. Any of 'em alive?”

“These four.” Crank gestured to two War Boys and two women he'd never seen before.

He moved on to look at the War Boys first. Both were burnt and bleeding. One had a gunshot wound to the shoulder, half his body was blistered and red, and blood was seeping through the bandage hastily wrapped around his head. Ace recognized him as Lad.

The other Boy was face down, upper body mostly angry red, oozing blusters and cracked blackened burns. Fabric was wrapped tightly around both legs just below the knees. The bottom half of his pants were tattered and torn, bits of dark red peaking through. One boot was turned at entirely the wrong angle and the other foot was missing its boot. If you could call it a foot anymore. It had become a mass of mangled flesh and bone, reminiscent of when he'd seen a Boy get their hand crushed in a lift gear. Why had they even brought this boy? He was already a corpse. But if Ace watched carefully, he could see the rise and fall of that burnt back.

Ace shook his head and turned his attention to the two women. One was old. Maybe older than him. Her face and one leg were covered in blood, but that seemed to be the extent of her injuries. The younger woman, other than some scrapes, seemed relatively unharmed. They were both dressed similarly to the two women that had been with Furiosa in the Organic's shop.

“What's the story on these two?” he asked Crank, but the boy had already wandered off to help load the other vehicles.

The old woman opened an eye. “Those boys said you're with Furiosa. Said she made it back to the Citadel.” Ace noticed that much of the blood on her face was coming from her other eye socket. “They asked if we're War Mothers.”

“What did you tell 'em?”

“Told him we used to be called the Many Mothers. No more'n that.”

“Furiosa's the one started callin' you women that. Thinks it'll make the Boys respect you more. Probably why they didn't leave you out there.”

“I don't think there's much left in us for war.” She sighed and placed a hand on one of her younger companion's legs. She seemed bone weary and so done. Some days, Ace knew exactly how she felt.

“What's your name?” He hadn't meant to ask.

She glanced back up at him, surprise and skepticism in her one eye. “Maddie.”

“They call me Ace. We're taking you all back to the Citadel. No more war between us.” He nodded his head to the prone woman. “She sleepin'?”

“Her body is broken. I'm hoping she can be fixed.”

Ace made a non-committal sound before turning to face everyone. They would need to get a move on if most of them were still going to make it.

“Everybody seat up! Make sure we're not missin' anybody! Secure your loads!” Ace shouted to his fellow War Boys and Pups. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted up to the Riders, “We're headin' out! We'll be back for the cars outside the pass!”

“Bring the guzzoline!” was the only reply.

The convoy kicked up clouds of dust as all their cars and trucks rushed through the narrow opening, past the remnants of the Doof Wagon and the War Rig, and into the open expanse of the desert.

Ace breathed a sigh of relief as the Canyon began to shrink into the distance in the car's side mirror. That could have gone better. But it could have gone a lot worse.

He figured they'd be at the Citadel before sunset.


	6. Roles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second update in a day. Woo!
> 
> Canaricita = awesome beta.

It had been a strange morning. After having given blood in the middle of the night, Toast slept most of said morning away. She had dreamed of being chased. The engine roared in her ears as she scrambled to keep hold of a wheel, foot slipping, barely able to reach the gas. Driving. Driving and never quite out of his reach. She was alone in her dream, separated from her Sisters. Sometimes he was there, pawing at her, wrenching the wheel, her control, away from her. Then she was dragged up from the car and into the air. Fear at first, then open sky and flying. Free...

Toast shook her head to dispel the memory of the dream. She walked briskly behind her two Sisters, feeling slightly annoyed at the ease of their long strides.

“Hurry,” Cheedo called back, “She wants us there before the sun sets.” The annoyance grew as they descended the stairs.

“I thought we were waiting for the convoy to return,” Toast huffed. “And slow down a little. These pants are even heavier than they look. And pretty sure I'm still low on blood...” They looked back at her and at least had the decency to look guilty. They slowed their gait.

After finding breakfast, or rather lunch, Toast had wandered over to the repair bay where she asked a Pup where she could get a pair of their pants. He hadn't said a word. But he looked her up and down before running off and returned shortly with a pair of dirty black pants and several belts. They'd fit surprisingly well up top, but the legs needed to be rolled up quite a bit. She was thinking of cutting off the excess. Next, she planned to find a different top. She didn't want to wear anything that he had given her. Toast had just returned to the the Vault to rest when Dag and Cheedo appeared, clamoring about where she had been.

“Sorry. I... wasn't thinking about how that would affect you,” Cheedo said. “We'll make sure that anyone that gives blood from now on gets extra rations and plenty of rest after.” She nodded for emphasis. “Do you need to stop and rest?”

“I'm good.”

Dag paused for Toast to catch up and she put an arm around her shoulder as they walked at a reasonable pace. “That was altruistic of you, giving your blood to the War Boy. He already seems better today, flitting about with Max. He seems quite fond of anyone willing to spend time with him. Capable has some competition for his attention.”

“Aw, Dag, nothing wrong with Nux being friendly. I think Capable's happy enough that he's alive. It's a miracle, really. And I think we all deserve some happiness after what we've been through.” Cheedo moved to Dag's other side and took her hand, sandwiching the blonde between Toast and herself. “Besides, Capable's been busy with Furiosa the past few hours.”

“Mm,” Toast wasn't sure what to think of Nux's behavior. That was his business, but she did hope that he would continue making Capable happy. And it would not make her happy if he'd survived the crash just to die again so soon. She wanted all of her Sisters to be safe and untroubled. “We decided that no one would be forced to give blood anymore. If we're going to encourage willing donation, we should set an example. The Organic already had most everyone's blood types on file. Your suggestion of extra rations should help.”

Cheedo beamed as they separated just enough to go down more stairs without tripping over each other. Furiosa and Capable were waiting for them at the bottom.

“Huh,” Toast said. Capable and Furiosa looked like an odd pair. Like Toast, Capable had also changed into pants and boots, though they were more similar to Furiosa's. Maybe they were Furiosa's. Capable's forehead was blackened to match the other woman's, but her flaming hair was a wild contrast to Furiosa's short crop. Toast wondered if cutting it had come up as a possibility.

“Good, you're all here. I wanted to brief with you before we go out there. We've been discussing some things we think need to change around here. Ways to ease everyone, especially the War Boys, into a transition. Corpus had a few ideas.”

“Corpus?” Dag shouted. “That little smeg is his father's seed! What if he wants to take over and keep things like they were?”

“He's probably just playing nice to bide his time...” Toast warned.

“He may not like it now, but his family's rule is over. He has no power of his own,” Furiosa said.

“He's already pretty much handed leadership over to Furiosa. But he does know how to run this place and he's very good with figures. And I like to think that not everyone becomes who their parents were.” Capable took a quick glance at Dag's belly. Dag frowned and pulled Cheedo closer to her.

“He... he did try to keep Rictus away from us. Before you came.” Cheedo acceded, looking at Furiosa.

Capable smiled. “And that's why I choose to believe that he's a good person overall. He never did anything outwardly mean to any of us. You can't help who your family is. He was stuck in his own role.”

“There's a lot more to the day to day's of the Citadel and dealing with the people of the Wasteland than you learned locked up with your books,” Furiosa added. “Miss Giddy taught you girls many things, but she didn't teach you how to govern.”

Toast sighed. She wanted them to be right. She nodded her head and said, “Okay. But I don't trust him yet. I'll be watching him.”

“So,” Dag said after a moment of silence. “What does he suggest we do?”

Before Furiosa could reply, they heard the rusted squeak of wheels as Corpus was wheeled around a corner in his chair contraption. Two Pups were assisting him.

“A great deal, actually.” Apparently he'd heard at least part of their conversation. Toast narrowed her eyes at him. Rude.

“Mostly, you just need to keep the place runnin'. A lot of people are used to the work they do an' will keep doin' it. We lost a lot of Boys out on the road. Their jobs will need to be filled by those lookin' for work. Reassign those who ain't happy with their job to something else, since you want everyone free to choose. Just know that some jobs, no one wants. If you wanna help make the lives better for the Wretched below, there'll have to be better shelter an' we gotta produce more food. Some of the Milking Mothers have agreed to keep producing milk for now, but many never want to see another breast pump as long as they live. We need to reestablish communication an' trade with The Bullet Farm an' Gastown. Their leaders are also dead, so are most likely in a bit of chaos or a calm state of shock themselves.”

Corpus shook his head and continued, “You set all the Bloodbags free, but a new workin' system for blood donation ain't been set up yet. With as much sickness is rampant here, we need regular healthy people ready to give blood or we'll lose half of what's left of the War Boys in a few moon turns.”

“Why is it mostly just the War Boys that are half-life?” Dag asked. “Even most of the People below live longer than they do. Lumps and all.”

Corpus looked about to reply, then closed his mouth. Toast felt her suspicion rise anew.

“Spill it,” she said, marching up to him.

“I don't know for sure!”

“For sure? Elaborate!” Toast loomed over him. Capable was suddenly at her side.

“Tell us,” she pleaded.

He looked at Capable and closed his eyes in defeat. “It's... I think it's the white clay he has 'em all wearin'. Not sure if Dad made the connection like I did. He started usin' the powder to try an' dry out his sores. But I saw he started gettin' lumps, too. I'm sure you girls saw.”

“I knew he was growing more repulsive by the day,” Dag remarked.

Toast's heart began to race. The powder? The clay? But Joe had them wear it when he...

“Are we going to become half-lives, too?” Cheedo sounded near tears.

“Don't think you were exposed as much. Most War Boys wear it all the time. Most even sleep in it. But it ain't just them. I know the Wretched that mixed the powder into clay would get sick easy. That job usually ended in lungs full of blood. Probably from breathin' so much of it in. Good thing for Dad he had the respirator.”

“It didn't save him in the end,” Toast scoffed.

“Why didn't you say anything?” Capable put her hands on on Corpus's shoulders. Toast thought she was about to shake him. “If you suspected it was killing everyone, why didn't you tell anyone? Why?”

“I said I wasn't sure! It wasn't long ago I started thinkin' my guess was right. An' then I figured shorter lives'd help Dad. Hell, maybe Dad did know. Fewer mouths to feed and it helped fuel their willingness to die for him. If they're dyin' anyway, may as well choose how to go. Maybe Dad started usin' it 'cause he thought it wouldn't hurt him. He did think highly of himself.”

“It... makes sense,” Furiosa said softly. They turned to look at her. “Ace. He was an Imperator when I was brought here. But a while later, after... I was working under him, he started getting tired of telling others what to do. He stepped down. Started wearing the white. He started getting them about a couple thousand days later.”

“What about you, Furiosa? If you worked up the ranks, didn't you wear it?”

“As little as I could. Every time I put it on, I remembered... And I wanted to distance myself as much as I could.”

“We have to make them stop using it,” Capable said. “Make them wash it all off, get rid of it and never use it again.” She was shaking. Toast put a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, it'll be okay. We'll figure something out,” Toast told her. They looked at each other a moment before Capable enveloped her in a tight hug.

“I just hope it's not too late...”

“I know.” Toast stroked Capable's hair.

“Hate to break the moment, but did ya still wanna do your little speech? Sun's about to set an' it's not so effective if they can't see you.”

Capable let go of Toast and stood up straight.

“Any last suggestions before we go out?” Furiosa asked.

“Cheedo had an idea about the blood.” Dag said.

“Um,” Cheedo started. “I was thinking that it could be an incentive thing. So, if you donate blood, you get extra food and water and a day of rest. There's already the list of blood types. We can figure out how to test the People of below and newcomers that seem healthy. I want to help start it. I want to help make people better. I'll read the books and have Skad and Geffy train me on how to fix insides of people. They seem to already know a lot about that kind of thing.”

“I want to work with the plants,” Dag added. “And we've read that certain kinds can be turned into medicine to heal or take away pain. I can try to find the right seeds and make something we need. Ida's seeds... they can grow here, I know it.” She turned to Corpus. “You said we need more food. I have seeds for trees, flowers, fruit. We'll plant more below if there's no more room above.”

“The Wretched will eat it all,” Corpus countered.

Dag stepped forward, blue eyes flashing dangerously. “It's _meant_ to feed them! The People will learn to sow their own fields. We will find a way to bring the clean water down without waste. We will make it _green_.”

Toast saw Furiosa nod in approval.

Capable spoke up next. “I didn't ask to become an Imperator, but I don't think it's something I'll mind. Maybe change what it means a little. I do want to work with the War Boys. Help them to open up. Realize that it's okay to be soft; it's good to live. I want to keep them safe.”

Toast was watching Furiosa through all of this, unable to read her expression. When their eyes met, Furiosa asked, “And you, Toast? It seems your Sisters have found where they want to fit.”

She had thought she knew. But then she remembered the feeling of flying from her dream. Of not being bound to anything. “I'm not quite sure what I want to be, really. I don't want to be stuck in one place, reduced to a single role. I want to drive. I want to shoot like you. But I want to heal and help people, too. I want to _make things_. Fuck, I even want to teach. He kept everyone uneducated and I think they could all become more with knowledge of what things were. What they _could_ be.”

Furiosa chuckled; it was a strange sound coming from her. “That's all well and good, but what do I call you when I introduce you to the People below?”

\- - - - - - - - - - -

They really had spent more time discussing things than they should have. As they walked passed the water pumps toward the Mouth, Toast could see the sun creeping toward the horizon. The sun would be in their eyes, but at least they wouldn't be in shadow. The blue sky was beginning to tinge into pink at the edges.

“Didn't he have someone announce him?”

“Should one of us announce her?”

Before any of them reached for the microphone, Furiosa took it into her hand. She raised it high and a small cheer started from below. Toast watched from just behind, seeing Furiosa's body in silhouette against the sun. Her feet were planted firmly shoulder width apart. Toast could just make out the rippling of back muscles as Furiosa lowered the microphone and began to speak.

“Good People of the Citadel! I'm sure you all know that I am Imperator Furiosa. You should also know that Joe is _dead_! You saw yourself that he was _no_ god!” She paused. Toast couldn't hear much from below. She and her sisters were still a few feet from the edge of the Mouth's opening. There was a wall, so falling wasn't the issue. But she knew that this was Furiosa's moment. So they hung back.

“Joe lied to you all. He kept you below him for his own gain. War Boys! War Pups! Tonight, wash the white clay from your bodies. It is a symbol of his old regime and his power over you. But it is also _poisoning_ you.” Toast didn't know if the Boys would believe her. She hoped for their sake that they would. “It is the cause of much of your sicknesses, your newest lumps. The clay's effects are slow, but dangerous. It you want to strive for something close to a full-life, _take it off_.” Toast couldn't hear or see their reactions; it was beginning to frustrate her as she was becoming impatient to look out over the ledge.

“Life is going to be different now. Better. We can do something we haven't been able to do much here before. We can _hope_. We are more than our ranks. More than our titles. What applies to me applies to all of you. What someone decides to call you isn't who you are. I am not just an Imperator. I am Furiosa! You are no longer the Wretched. You each have your own names. Your own value.” She motioned for the Sisters to join her at the ledge. Toast looked down at the crowd, who were staring up at them in silence. So many people. There was no trace of where Joe's body had fallen. Good.

She noticed flashes of white and saw that the Pups had gathered to fill the rafters around the lift. All of their white faces were turned to them. She couldn't make out their expressions, but Toast expected it would be the last time she saw them that pale.

“These girls are not Breeders. They are not Wives. They are not _things_. _None_ of us are. I introduce to you,” She motioned with her shortened arm for Capable to raise her own hand. “Imperator Capable! She is becoming an Imperator, but one that will listen to you and show you more than just war.” A few faint cheers could be heard from the Pups across the way.

She looked to Dag, who then raised her fist. “Dag, the new Keeper of the Seeds! She will tend to the gardens and bring the green and water down to you, for you to learn to work the soil and make it _good_.” Some cheers and mutterings from below. Cheedo raised her hand next.

“Cheedo the Healer. She is learning to do more for you than the old Organic Mechanic could or _would_. She and others will help to usher in a new time of _longer_ , more _full_ lives!” The faint cheers from the Pups became more enthusiastic. Toast swallowed hard and raised her right fist, fingers tingling with anticipation.

“And Toast the Balanced! She will not be tied to a single task. She will help defend the Citadel and heal the sick. She will help build what's needed and teach others what she knows. Together, we can work to make this place better than it was. Better than we'd ever imagined it could be. The Citadel wasn't ever just Joe's. The Citadel is yours. And mine. The Citadel is _ours_!”

The crowd erupted. Toast linked hands with her Sisters and they all lifted their hands to the sky, shouting to the heavens in excitement for this new beginning.

Toast laughed and hugged Furiosa. “Good job.”

“I just hope to never have to make a speech like that again. That was terrifying.”

Toast laughed harder. “What? Big baddie like you afraid of speaking?”

“You do it next time, then.” Toast's smile fell instantly. That was not something she wanted.

She looked back down at the People, who had become harder to see in the onset of Twilight. The sun was just dipping below the horizon, deep orange cutting into the fading purple. As Toast watched it slowly sink, she thought she saw something out in the desert. She squinted as the last slice of the sun slipped out of sight. Seconds later, headlights flashed on.

The convoy had returned.


	7. Much Needed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This gets a little injury graphic again toward the end.
> 
> Thank you again to Canaricita for being my beta!

It was so strange being back. He'd prepared himself in those last moments before the crash to never see any of it again. He wasn't sure where he would have gone if he had died, what with the Immortan being dead and Valhalla being a lie, but hoped it would have been someplace nice.

Other than the near constant ache and sharp pains when he moved the wrong way and a few missing faces, Nux thought this was as good as Valhalla. He'd gotten to watch Capable sleep, another sight he thought he'd never see again. She'd looked so peaceful.

Nux yawned huge, covering his mouth. Max followed shortly after with his own stifled yawn. Nux looked over at Max and wondered if he had slept, either. The older man looked tired and disheveled, but then, he always did. They'd been wandering around without a destination in mind after Nux relieved himself. He'd felt too restless to go back to lying on the cot and Max seemed nervous and shifty when they were near the Blood Shed. “I'sh okay, Macks. D'ey're nod gonna dake your byood again wifoud you yeddin' dem,” Nux had said. And so, they walked.

Nux hadn't realized that he had led them to the nook in the War Boy barracks that he'd claimed as his and Slit's until he stopped right in front of it. His legs knew the path well enough to go without thought. He didn't think he could take being alone here. “You shyeep yash nighd?”

Max stared at him a moment before comprehension of what Nux said seemed to dawn on him and he gave a small nod. “Some.”

“Where?” Nux doubted the War Boys would have accepted him in the Barracks without someone to vouch for him.

Max waved his hand in the general direction of the repair bay. “Found a car. Had a back seat.” Max tilted his head at the taller boy. “You didn't sleep.” It wasn't a question.

“No. 'oo musch pain.” His fingers twitched.

“You should rest. And not talk so much. Doctors' orders.”

Nux tried to smile, but he kept thinking about Slit. Coming here was a bad idea. He could see Slit's sack of lance parts on the floor below the hammock. He took a step back.

And Max's hand was on his shoulder. “Hey. You okay?” The hand was warm and solid and Nux couldn't help but lean into it. He felt cold.

“Yesh. No. Um. Can I... cou'd you...” Nux looked at the hammock. It had fit two just fine if they were pressed together on their sides or one on top of the other. “Lie down wif me?”

“Hmm...”

“P'eashe?” Nux looked at Max imploringly. He wasn't sure why Max looked scared, but the other man eventually nodded and moved to sit on the hammock. After some awkward adjustment, Nux was lying on his side with Max's chest pressed against his back. The lumpiness of Max's jacket was nothing like Slit's bare skin, but comforting heat still radiated from him.

“Dish ish bedder dan da hard co' in Organicksh. 'oo bad Capabaw'sh no' here, dough. We cou'd have a nicsh warm pi'yuh.”

“Capable, hm, might not want to be so... close... with other men.”

“Hmm? She shyep'd wif me yash nighd.”

“Well, There were other women there during the night. She wasn't alone with two men... touching her.” Max paused. “As much as she seems to trust you, what Joe did to them can cause a lot of fear to... linger. Gets in your head. If things get out of her control, she could think she's going to get hurt.”

“I wou'dn'd hurd her!” No. Never hurt her. She was too shine. All the girls were. No one would hurt them again if Nux could help it. “Never. I won' douch her if da' wiyuh make her feeyuh shafe.”

“I didn't say she'd never want you to touch her. Just... listen to what she wants. Pay attention to how she reacts. Ask permission before you do certain things.”

“How do you know sho much abou' wha' she finks?”

“Sometimes, when people hurt you, it's hard not to feel like... everyone's out to do the same.” Nux thought about what could have hurt Max.

“Macksh... did id hurd when I dook your b'ood?”

The other man was silent for a while. “Go to sleep, Nux.”

Oh, no. How could he have been so stupid? Of course he'd hurt Max. Nux had seen how nervous Max looked when they passed the Blood Shed earlier and only thought about it in a way that was disconnected from himself. He hadn't cared about Max when he first laid eyes on him. Didn't think of him as a person. Like none of them thought of Capable and her Sisters as people. Max had been a thing to him. Just a blood bag. And despite this, Max had looked out for Nux. Come back for him. Saved him.

Nux felt ashamed of himself. He heard a soft whining noise as he began hitting himself on the head with his good hand. As Max grabbed his arm to stop him, he realized the noise was coming from himself.

“What are you doing?” Max asked.

“I hurd you! We aw hurd you! And da gir'sh! We hurd everybody we came acrosh da' washn' ush! I wash pard of id and I hurd peopuh. I'm a bad pershon! I don' desherve you bein' sho nische do me. Or Capabaw bein' nische do me. Or anyone bein' nische.” Nux curled in on himself, still trying in vain to hit himself.

Max shifted to take Nux's hand, holding it against the skinny boy's chest. “Shhhh... It's okay. I was hurt long before I came here. It's okay.”

“No, id'sh nod.”

“You didn't know. They raised you to think that way. But you figured it out, yeah? You did good things. You're not a bad person.”

“I'm nod a good pershon 'ike you.”

“I am... _not_ a good person.”

Nux practically rolled over on top of Max to try to look at him. “Yesh you are! You did sho musch do he'p everyone. Shaved da gir'sh. Shaved Furiosha. Shaved me. After whad I did do you.” Nux shifted more so that he was on his back, only partially on top of Max, finally able to look at Max's face.

Max let go of his hand to rub Nux's head. “I've done... bad things. Let people die. Killed more people than I can remember. When I found the girls with the War Rig, I just wanted to drive it out on my own and never look back. Keep running from my ghosts. I didn't plan on helping anyone but myself. But something changed. I started to care about people again. By helping them, you, I could find...”

“Redempshion?”

Max smiled. “Yeah.” Nux realized that he liked it when Max smiled. “And when you realized you'd been wrong, and started to help, that was good. You got your own redemption.”

Nux felt like he was grinning ear to ear. “Yeah?” He nuzzled his forehead to Max's, their noses rubbing together. Max looked frightened again when Nux pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“I, uh, didn't know War Boys kissed.”

“Oh, mosh' don'. Id'sh shomefin' nische I remember from when I wash reayey young. I god Shyi'... Shyi'...” Damn his tongue. He tried it more slowly, “Shlit... do shdard doin' id, 'oo. He yiked id more dan he'd admid.” Nux smiled at the memory of Slit looking around to make sure no one saw them.

“Hm.”

“Dank you for shdayin' wif me here. And I know you don' fing you're a good pershon, bud I fink you're preddy chrome'.”

“Shouldn't you not be talking?”

“Haha,” Nux laughed as he closed his eyes, still pressing his forehead to Max's. He hoped Max would continue to stay after he was fully healed. Maybe he could change his mind. That thought followed him into sleep.

\- - - - - -

Something jerked his whole body and Nux was awake instantly. Warmth moved away from him in another jerky motion and he heard a thud as he began to swing smoothly back and forth on the hammock.

“Shli'? You fall off?” Nux asked as he sat up and rubbed at his bleary eyes with his left hand. He opened his eyes to see Max on the floor, looking up at him, crazed, scared, and clearly confused.

“Max!”

Max stared at him a moment before he began to relax, rubbing the back of his head and sitting up straight.

“You alrigh'?”

“... yeah.”

“No more shleep, den?”

Max quickly shook his head, then looked back up at Nux. “You sound better. Probably from not talking for a while.”

“Aw, you nod like me dalkin' do you?”

“... you can talk.”

Nux giggled as he crawled out of the hammock as best he could with one functioning arm. He ruffled Max's hair, then helped him to stand back up.

Max looked at Nux's slung arm, concern crossing his features. “Should get you back to medical. Get your wounds redressed.”

Nux followed Max's gaze and saw that blood had seeped through the bandage on his forearm.

“Do we have do?”

“Yes. Not even sure how long we slept.”

Nux wanted to stall. Wanted more time with Max and not with the two harbingers prodding his wounds again.

“I'm... hungry.” Which wasn't a lie. Nux just usually ignored it. But he had been told that he needed to eat well in order to heal faster.

“Fine. Let's go.”

\- - - - - -

The cafeteria was hectic compared to the empty quiet of the barracks. It must have been a shift change. What was odd was that no one seemed to be wearing their clay. Lift operators never did, but Pups were never seen without it. Nux got a few odd looks. They acted as if they'd never seen an injured War Boy before.

“Food and wader for me and my friend,” Nux called up.

“Who's your friend?” Nux turned to see one of the clayless War Boys, barely out of his Pup days.

“His name ish Max. He'sh a blood... donor. Needsh exdra rashonsh.”

The young Boy began to lift the back of Max's shirt, looking at his tattoo. Max froze for an instant and, before Nux could react, turned on the Boy with gun in hand, pressing the barrel directly into the center of his forehead.

“Max, no!”

Nux flailed and put his good hand on Max's arm. Not good, not good. “Max, id'sh alrigh'. You're okay. No onesh gonna make you go back.”

The cafeteria was quiet. Nux could feel everyone's eyes on them. The Boy looked terrified.

Slowly, Max lowered the gun and clicked the safety back on. Nux breathed a sigh of relief.

“What the fuck, mate?!” One of the lift operators came to stand in front of the cowering Boy. “You need to put your _friend_ there on a leash,” he said, addressing Nux.

Nux could see Max twitch to raise the gun again. He stepped in front of Max and stood to his full height. “He jush'... doeshn' like do be d'ouched. He'sh been frough a lo'. Back off.”

The lift operator stared him down. Nux tried to puff out his chest and look intimidating, but knew the other guy could probably take him with his injuries. He'd still go down fighting, though. Nux tried to remember the operator's name. It was Pang.

“He better not attack any more of ours. I don't care if the two of you are favored by the Shiny Imperator.”

Shiny Imperator? “Who-?” Nux started, but was interrupted by a Pup handing him a tray of food and water.

“Oh, fanks.”

With one last glare, Nux turned his back on Pang and walked with Max to sit against a stone wall. They ate and drank in silence, watching everyone around them, now wary. Nux kept noticing some of the Pups furtively peering at him, others openly gaping, and whispering among each other. He didn't like it.

He began to pick up on snippets of conversation from some Pups that were nearby and thankfully not talking about him or Max.

“So Chrome... thought I'd never hear his playin' again.”

“I knew he'd be back. The Doof Warrior's invincible.”

The Doof was back? That meant the convoy had returned.

Nux spoke up. “Hey, Pupsh. Wash anyone elsh brough' back?”

“Heaps of War Boys! An' some other people. But The Doof! I can't wait to hear him play.” The Pup obviously had a one track mind.

“Where are they?”

“Most're in the Organic's. Lots were hurt, some real bad.”

Nux stood and waited for Max. He had to go back there anyway, and now he wanted to see who else had survived. He held his hand out to Max.

“Coming?”

\- - - - - -

On the way to the Organic's, Nux held Max's hand as they passed through the full Blood Shack. Random people were hooked up to injured War Boys that were lying down. He thought he saw Dag's blonde hair.

No one noticed when they arrived. Furiosa was talking with Ace and she looked... upset. A few War Boys and a Drummer were standing off to the side, surrounding the Doof Warrior, who seemed unhurt. All four cots were taken up. The harbingers were fussing over another old lady and a woman who looked about Furiosa's age with wild dark hair. Cheedo and a Pup were cleaning wounds on a bloody War Boy. The third cot was unattended and held the face-down body of a burnt and mangled War Boy. Nux walked up to inspect him. He looked... bad. His pants had been partially cut away to reveal that both legs had been crushed below the knees. His back was a giant horrible burn, swollen and ugly. Nux could barely make out the scarification running up the spine. He knew it well. Nux felt like his heart skipped a beat.

Slowly, so slowly, Nux moved further up the body. He looked at the turned face and saw the familiar glint of metal, perpetual grin of a scar. Nux dropped to his knees.

“Slit...” Nux whispered.

He reached out a hand, held his fingers under Slit's nose, and felt warm breath moving in and out. Alive. Somehow alive. Nux brushed his hand over Slit's face, feeling the familiar contours. Assuring himself that it was real. Slit was real.

Nux stood and looked around. No one had even looked their way. Why was no one helping Slit?

“Hey!” Nux called out. Everyone turned to stare at him. He pointed at Slit. “Shlit ish hurt real bad! Why are you not doing anyfing?”

“That Boy's a lost cause. He won't make it through the night.”

“No! I coulda been a losht cause, but you helped me live. Shlit'sh my Lanscher. My...”

“Honey, he's lost too much blood and we're out of people willing to donate that match his blood type. Besides, I don't think he can be anyone's Lancer without legs to perch on a car.”

“I'll make him legsh! No one shaid Furiosha couldn't drive or shoot when she losht her arm!” He looked at Furiosa and she was staring back at him thoughtfully.

“What about Toasht or Max? They're univershal donorsh.”

“They gave too recently. It's not safe for them.”

Nux looked at Slit and despaired.

Metallic strumming came from his right. Nux whipped his head back up and saw that the Doof had approached him. “He doeshn't need mushic. He needs blood.”

Coma extended his arm as if in offering. Nux's eyes widened. “You would give your blood?” The gaggle of War Boys muttered excitedly, staring at Coma. Coma just nodded his head and took another step toward Nux.

“We don't know if he's the right type, or clean enough...”

“On it,” called Cheedo, already flipping through the pages of the Organic's ledger. After what felt like an eternity of page turning, “It says here, _Coma, the Doof Warrior. Despite deformities, such as his lack of eyes and voice, the rest of his body is perfectly formed. No lumps. No bumps. Clear_... more stuff... ah! _Blood type A negative_.”

“What kind is Shlit?”

More paper flipping. “Let's see... _A positive_.”

So close. Nux covered his face with his hand.

“Okay. Let's do this, then.”

Nux uncovered his face. “What?”

“Negatives can give to positives of the same type.”

Nux stared, dumbfounded, as they cleaned a spot on the Doof's arm. “This may sting,” one of the women said before sticking his arm with a needle. The Doof didn't even flinch. They carefully helped him up to sit in the cage Toast had been in the night before.

They left Slit lying on his stomach. Skad lifted Slit's arm so that Geffy could insert the needle, blood dripping from the tip. They made sure that the tourniquets were tied securely below his knees.

“Kuto, get us some fire for cauterizing.” Geffy said. Skad walked away for a moment and came back with a gleaming saw.

Max walked up to Nux. “You shouldn't watch this.”

“He needsh to be witneshed.”

“You don't have to be the one to do it.” Max told him,

“Yesh, I do.”

They cut some lines into the flesh of Slit's legs and peeled back the flaps of skin. Then the horrible sound of the saw going through bone was all he could hear. All he could see was the thick, dark blood oozing out along the blade, then the shin and foot were lifted away from the rest of the leg and discarded like a piece of rotten meat. The women waited as the Pup held a torch up to the bloody mess of a stump that had been part of a whole leg. It sizzled and darkened. Nux felt bile rise in his throat.

They pulled the flaps of skin back down around the cut end of the leg and began to sew. When they were satisfied, they nodded to Cheedo, who came with fresh bandages to tightly wrap around the stump. The women moved to the other leg and began to saw anew.

He must keep watching. This was his Lancer. His Slit.

Nux felt light headed. Strong arms grabbed him from behind as the world spun and turned to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you need a translation for anything Nux says.


	8. Comfort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! I hated the fist draft of this chapter and re-wrote a lot of it. This is where the rating goes up. 
> 
> I know the legal consenting age in Australia is 16, but Cheedo is at least 18 in this story.
> 
> Thank you to my beta, Canaricita! And thank you guys for your lovely comments!

A contemplative silence followed the two girls up the stairs as they made their way back up to the Vault. An occasional squeeze of the hand and tired smile were their quiet gifts to each other.

It was late into the night by the time the last of the returned Boys were cleaned and bandaged and had their top-ups. Kuto and the other helper Pup, Noz, were dismissed after most of the work was done. The young ones needed their sleep. Cheedo had made sure they received food and drink and gave each an awkward hug. She was grateful for their enthusiasm to teach her the basics while they worked. They'd seemed unfazed by even the most severe of injuries.

Cheedo didn't want to see another burn victim for the rest of her life. But what she wanted wasn't always reality. 

Most of the Boys had burns of some degree or another, but the worst was the Boy that Nux had called Slit. She recognized his scarred face from the Fury Road, yelling at Nux and spitting guzzoline into his engine like a mad man. She hoped that he would be reasonable when he finally woke up. 

The returned Boys had already been told of Joe's lies and subsequent death on their way back to the Citadel and had been told the details of Furiosa's speech shortly after they arrived. Most seemed reserved and confused by the news. Cheedo figured that they must be in shock about their supposed god's death. 

A few of the Boys had acted openly hostile toward her when she approached. Some snarling when she tried to touch them, another calling her filth. She'd be lying if she said their reactions didn't hurt. “I'm just trying to help you,” she'd said. But the stubborn ones were treated by Kuto and Noz.

Cheedo closed her eyes and smiled as she remembered the look on so many Boys' faces when Dag walked up to them and asked which Boy she would be linked to. The matching Boy that was chosen, whose name was Vane, had looked at Dag as if she were the source of the cleanest of water. In the time that she sat with the Boys while Cheedo worked, Dag told them stories and jokes. It seemed to do more to warm the boys up to them than Cheedo's cleaning and bandaging. Through the whole of the night, not a single Boy had touched either of them.

“Watch your step, love, don't want you to trip.”

Cheedo opened her eyes and saw that they were back at the open Vault door. It had been nice to simply be led by Dag, knowing the other girl wouldn't let her fall.

When they entered, she saw by the moonlight streaming in that Toast was already in bed, fast asleep. They tip-toed past her to their space at the end of the hall. Cheedo suspected that Capable would not be sleeping in the Vault tonight, either, after what happened with Nux. The red-head had been seeing to something else that the convoy had apparently brought back with them while Cheedo and Dag attended the injured Boys. Cheedo hadn't been told what it was, but by the look of Capable's red-rimmed eyes when she showed up after being summoned for Nux, she guessed that it wasn't anything good. “It can wait until morning when we're all rested,” Capable had said.

Cheedo thought about how nice sleep would be as she turned on a lamp and set down her satchel of books taken from the Organic's. There was still so much to learn. She knew she would have more time to read through the medical texts when there weren't so many currently injured Boys to take care of, but she needed to know it all now to actually take care of said Boys.

“Will you forego sleep tonight to read all of that?” Dag asked. She had removed her black cloak and was working on her boots.

“There's no way I can even get through one of these tonight, but I thought I'd start.”

“You need sleep, too, you know.”

“I won't be up too long.” Cheedo sat on an unoccupied bed and reached into the satchel for a book. She pulled out _Review of Medical Pharmacology_ and looked up to see Dag nestled in the blankets and making grabby hands toward her. 

“I don't want to keep you up,” Cheedo worried.

“I always sleep better when you're near,” Dag pouted, but she could see the mischief glinting in her blue eyes.

They'd started sleeping in the same bed shortly after Cheedo had been brought here. She had missed her parents, even though they were the ones who traded her away, and constantly cried herself to sleep until the night Dag crawled into bed behind her and held her, whispering calming words of comfort. Without talking about it, this became a regular occurrence until there wasn't a night they didn't sleep in each other's arms. 

She moved to sit on the bed, book in tow. Dag stretched languidly before curling around her.

Cheedo looked down at her and couldn't help but smile. “Sure you can sleep like this?”

“Mmhmm,” came the reply.

She watched Dag's content face for a long moment before opening her book. When she was just a few paragraphs in, however, she was feeling a little lost. She knew this was all in English, or should be, and most things made sense, but there were many words whose meaning she did not know, and some she wasn't even sure how to properly pronounce. She flipped through and saw some pictures and charts, but they did little to shed light on what it all meant. Maybe reading it with a dictionary would help. Getting through this book would be very slow going. Would all the books be like this?

She groaned in frustration as she closed the book. Dag wrapped herself around her lower body more tightly in response. Cheedo untangled herself from Dag's grasp so that she could put the book back in the satchel and turn off the light. Maybe it would be easier to get through it in the morning.

When she returned to the bed, Dag had rolled back to make room for her and lifted the sheets in welcome. “Still awake, then?” Cheedo asked.

“I doubted you'd be long. I glanced in some of those earlier. It'll take a while to sort through and make sense of it all. I'll read some of them with you. The two of us can surely figure it all out.” Dag pulled her closer and kissed her cheek. Cheedo turned her head to return the affection. Their lips met in the dark and it was just as sweet as ever. Dag was so gentle with her. They'd kissed and shared light touches the night before, but had ended up spending much of the night just snuggling and telling each other their plans for the future, now that it was theirs to make. “I want to build my future with you,” Dag had said. 

Now the pair were even more tired than the previous night, but they seemed to draw energy from each others' touch. “You're the most beautiful person I've ever seen. So sweet and good.”

“You can't even see me in this dark,” Cheedo joked.

“I don't need to see you to know who you are inside.” Dag's lips pressed softly to her neck, just under where her jawline curved up toward her ear. She kissed the pulse there and slowly trailed her parted mouth down till she reached the collar bone. Cheedo shivered at the sensation. The lightest of touches on her neck, and she felt alive with the electricity coursing through her veins.

“That feels so nice...”

“More?”

“Yes.”

Dag sat up and slowly pulled Cheedo up with her. Cheedo heard the rustling of fabric and could just make out that Dag was removing the white cloth from her body. Now Cheedo wished to turn the light back on. She'd always appreciated Dag's long limbs and small curves. The other girls looked nice, too, but she could stare at Dag all day. It was the way she held herself. Graceful and carefree, but such a fierceness within it all. She held a strength that could never be crushed. “Mind if I turn on the light?”

Instead of responding, Dag leaned over and turned the lamp on herself. Warm light once again flooded the small room. “There you are, little desert pea,” Dag said, brushing back some dark strands of hair that had fallen over Cheedo's face..

Cheedo giggled at the nickname. It was one of the flowers Miss Giddy had told them used to grow wild in the desert. “If I'm a desert pea, then you're a desert rose.”

Dag ran her hands down the sides of Cheedo's face to cup her cheeks. “And we shall grow wild and strong now that we are free.” She smirked. “My thorns will defend us from anyone that tries to hold us back or take us again. No one can possess us.”

“I... I wouldn't mind being yours, though,” Cheedo said, lowering her eyes. When Dag didn't respond, she worried she'd said the wrong thing. She knew they were not things, but what did you call it when you wanted to give yourself to someone?

Finally, Dag spoke.

“You know I would never try to own you. Would never control you in any way. I will never even try to lay a claim on you.” She lifted Cheedo's face level with her own. “What I want is to share experiences with you. Knowing that you are safe and happy makes me feel the same.”

Dag placed one hand over Cheedo's heart and the other over her own.

“If you want to be mine, to freely give your heart to me, then I will trade to you my own heart. I think you've had it for a while now, anyway.”

Cheedo felt tears begin to sting her eyes. “Oh, Dag...” She was at a loss for words. She'd always felt a strange guilt at not having been touched by Joe the same way the other girls had. She couldn't help but worry sometimes that they secretly resented her for not experiencing the full extent of what Joe had been capable of. But Dag showed her time and time again that she felt anything but that. Even willing to put herself in harm's way to protect her. Cheedo had latched on to Dag's strength early on. Over time she'd begun to see Dag as more than just her Sister and protector. She could tell that Dag felt something similar, but her uncertainty and fear of getting Dag in more trouble had stopped her from acting on it. But both obstacles were no more.

“I am yours. Only yours. I want...” Cheedo bridged the gap between them and kissed Dag again, wrapping her arms around her slender shoulders. Dag opened her mouth and gently sucked on Cheedo's lower lip before pulling on it with her teeth. Cheedo gasped and ran her hands down Dag's smooth back.

“What do you want?” Dag asked as she looked earnestly into her eyes.

Cheedo blushed before sitting up tall and resolute. “I want you,” she said as she began to unwrap the white fabric from her own chest. Dag helped pull the bottom fabric over her thighs and down her legs. 

“I want to be close to you. I want to do everything with you. You make me feel safe and happy. Every moment with you is wonderful, but I know there is more. The books said that... intimacy... with someone you love is supposed to feel good. I want to feel that with you. And I want to make you feel something good, too.”

“I want to make this something I'll never associate with him again.”

“Then show me something better. Something wondrous.”

They held each other's gaze again before Dag reached out and cupped one of Cheedo's breasts, rubbing her thumb over the nipple. Cheedo shivered and felt it harden. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation of Dag's fingers tracing the sensitive undersides of her breasts, then trailing down her ribs, making her stomach twitch when it tickled. Cheedo opened her eyes and placed both of her hands on Dag's pale breasts, mimicking what Dag did to her, pleased when she saw and felt the pink buds harden under her thumbs and heard Dag let out a content sigh.

They rushed together at once, teeth clacking in a too-urgent kiss. Cheedo pulled back an inch to breathe and felt Dag's tongue slip into her mouth. It was strange, but immediately pleasant. Soft against her own tongue. They kissed like that for a while, open-mouthed and hands exploring. Cheedo was covered in goosebumps and she could feel her heart thumping in her chest and between her legs. When one of Dag's hands began to tease the dark hair above this growing ache, she whimpered.

Dag pulled back immediately. “Stop?”

“No. I want... I need...”

Dag smiled. “Then let me show you the stars.” She stood from the bed and turned Cheedo to face her before kneeling between her open legs. “You might want to lie back.”

Cheedo did so, but propped herself up on he elbows. She wanted to see what was about to happen. Dag's blue eyes locked on hers as the blonde began to kiss her way up Cheedo's tan thighs. She couldn't look away, caught in the intensity of her gaze. Dag placed warm kisses, back and forth on her inner thighs as she worked her way up, until placing a kiss right in the middle of her mound of curls. Then she rolled her tongue down, slipping it into her folds and _Oh_.

This was wondrous. Dag's warm tongue slid down, not quite dipping into her, then back up to make a meandering path over her folds before returning to that little bundle of nerves. She ran her nails lightly up Cheedo's thighs as her tongue continued to dance around every fold and curve, always returning to that one spot. When her tongue pressed flat against the bud, rubbing firm, hot pressure into her core, Cheedo threw her head back and gasped. Dag hummed and continued this motion, back and forth, up and down, pressure building.

Cheedo trembled and could no longer support herself, so fell back flat on the bed. She spread her legs further apart to allow Dag more access and reached down to thread her fingers through the fair hair. Dag's swirled her tongue and slid her hands over and around Cheedo's hips to grasp her bottom. She began to massage the flesh as her mouth continued its onslaught. Everything felt so intense. She felt like...

“Wait, stop, I think I'm gonna pee...”

Dag sat back with a huge grin on her face. She used her thumb to continue rubbing in slow, torturous circles. “Oh, it's not that. It's the stars coming for you.” Then she ran her hands up to cup and massage Cheedo's breasts again as she went back to her tongue's work with vigor.

Cheedo's body was shaking and she knew she looked a mess, covered in sweat and hands now twisting in the sheets. Dag's mouth was pure hot bliss upon her. The strong rhythm of her tongue building a crescendo. She could barely breathe.

She glanced down to see that Dag was looking right back at her. Their eyes locked. 

Heat flushed her cheeks, her ears began to ring, and the pressure built and then...

She saw the stars. Wave after wave of pleasure coursed through her, starting where Dag's tongue connected to her body, to the top of her head, to the tips of her toes. Her back arched. Her toes curled.

“Ah! Ohhhhh!” She let out a small squeak, followed by a low moan and covered her face with her hands and she shuddered one last time. “Dag...”

Cheedo lay there panting for a while, feeling her heart thudding in her chest and occasional little ghost twinges of pleasure at the bud between her legs. When she finally felt that she could breathe normally again, she uncovered her face to see Dag propped up on an elbow beside her with a very wet and smug grin on her face. Cheedo wanted to kiss that face. And so she did.

They rolled into each other, bodies flush. Cheedo could taste herself on Dag's lips and tongue. A little salty and something she couldn't quite place. She wanted to know what Dag tasted like now. She trailed a hand down passed Dag's stomach and cupped the blonde mound. She felt nervous all of a sudden and hoped that she would be able to make Dag feel just as amazing as what she'd just felt.

“How did you learn to do all that with your tongue?” Cheedo breathed. Dag had been fairly young herself when she'd been taken. Cheedo doubted that Joe had ever done anything like that to his wives or they would have mentioned the one redeeming quality he had.

Dag's expression became something somber. “It was long time ago. Before you joined us. There had been another Wife.” She curled her body against Cheedo. “She was clever and inspiring. Dark smooth skin, the biggest, brightest smile you'd ever see, and even smaller than Toast.”A pause. “She died trying to give birth. It was a still-born.” Another pause. “Her name was Moji.”

Cheedo wrapped her arms around Dag and pulled her close, pressing a firm kiss to the top of her head. She had known there were Wives before, spanning back who knows how many thousands of days. She thinks she'd heard that name once or twice, but never knew she and Dag had been close.

“You never talked about her.”

Dag sighed and leaned back to look at Cheedo. Their hair made a woven blanket between their faces, wisps of dark and light as tangled as their limbs.

“It hurt to talk about her. She'd burrowed inside of me and left a piece of herself there. And it will always be there. It took me a while to realize that it was okay to move on. When you showed up, I felt an instant connection I hadn't felt since I'd first laid eyes on her. It scared me a little. Honestly, now that I have this baby in me, I'm terrified that history will repeat itself. That I won't survive and I'll leave you, too. Shed this mortal coil and fly up to dance among stars.”

Cheedo hadn't thought about that as a possible outcome of the pregnancy. She thought her heart would stop. She would not let that happen to Dag. “You'll live! You and the baby will survive, strong and whole! I'll make sure of it! The Vuvalini must know more about birthing than the Organic did. They were the Many Mothers! I'll make sure nothing bad happens to you. I'll keep you safe.” Cheedo pulled Dag to her again, peppering her face with kisses.

“I love you. I love you so much,” Cheedo said, tears spilling down the side of her face and into their hair.

“I love you, too,” Dag told her, eyes just as wet. 

“And I love the both of you. But I am definitely looking for somewhere else to sleep tomorrow,” Toast's voice carried from the main room.

Cheedo felt a wave of embarrassment heat her face. She'd forgotten about being quiet some time ago. How much had Toast heard? “Sorry!” she called back.

“I'm not,” Dag said as she pulled her in for a tender kiss.

Dag broke the kiss to let out a yawn and Cheedo followed in quick succession.

“As much as I would love to continue all of this, I am fading fast,” Dag confessed. “And I'm not sure I could be quiet if I tried when I go over the edge.”

Cheedo pulled the blanket over them both. Dag was right. There was no rush to do everything in one night. They would continue to share their bed for countless days to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the fist sex scene I've ever written ever. If you don't count the first draft of this that I hated and deleted.
> 
> I think it's all downhill from here, folks.


	9. A Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to Canaricita for beta reading!
> 
> And you guys' comments really make my day. :)

Morning found her much the same as it had the day before. Soft voices, an unfamiliar cot, and not well-rested enough. But when she opened her eyes, she was alone.

Capable sat up and looked around for Nux, not taking long for her to spot him sitting by that other War Boy's cot. Slit. She watched them for a while. Nux was holding Slit's hand and whispering to him. But the burnt boy didn't seem to be awake yet. He hadn't woken during the operation that removed most of his legs or when they were cleaning his burns. She wasn't sure if he would wake up at all.

Nux moved closer to Slit and she wondered if he was going to whisper something into his ear. Instead, Nux kissed Slit. It was tender and he lingered for a moment before sitting back and wiping at his eyes. Was he crying? She remembered the quick kiss he'd given her when she'd cut his chain. The shy kisses they'd shared in the lookout bug that night out in the desert. Maybe it hadn't meant as much to him as it had to her. Or maybe she'd misunderstood his and Slit's relationship. Just what were War Boys to each other?

“Nux.” She finally found her voice.

He jumped and nearly fell over, apparently having been oblivious to his surroundings. He wiped at his eyes again and sniffed before standing and trotting up to her.

“Sorry if I woke you. I was just checkin' on Slit,” he said. “Um... sorry if I made a scene last night.”

She just looked at him and couldn't decide if she should ask or just leave it be. Curiosity got the better of her. “So, you and Slit were really close?”

“Uh huh,” Nux answered and sat beside her. “I mentioned he's my best mate, yeah? Thought he died. And I didn't witness him. But he's alive! And he wouldn't wanna die soft, so now I gotta make sure he gets tough again. He'd do the same for me. Well, if he doesn't hate me now...”

“I don't see how anyone could hate you.”

“I traitored the Immortan. Slit called me filth. He didn't know the truth. I'll have to talk to him when he wakes up. Explain everything. He'll come around. I hope. He'll think you're pretty shine, too.” Nux smiled.

“You... kiss Slit often?” She felt her face heat up just asking the question.

“Oh, yeah!”

Well then. “That a... regular War Boy thing?”

Nux laughed. “Max asked somethin' like that yesterday. I think I scared him. Should probably warn him before I do it again.” Nux kissed Max, too? And planned to do it again? Did he even like girls? Maybe kissing was nothing to him. Why was this so hard to ask?

Before she could voice her questions, he continued, “But nah. Like I said to Max, it's something nice I remember from when I was a kid. Just for between people that care about each other. Maybe other War Boys do it. But I only ever did it before with Slit. And then... you.” He looked at her and she could see a blush under his faded paint. She'd have to get him to wash it all off after this conversation.

“Oh.”

Nux suddenly looked worried. “You do like kissin', right? I mean, it's okay for you? I can not ever kiss you again if you don't like it!”

“No, no. I... I like it. When you kiss me. I just... most people only kiss one person.”

“Ever?”

“At a time.”

“Well, I wasn't kissin' all three of you at once. I don't get it. I think you're all chrome. Is that not okay?” He worried his bottom lip with his teeth and drew blood. When he continued to bite his lip, she realized that he was hurting himself on purpose.

“Nux, no, stop that.” She swiped at the blood with her thumb. “It's... it's okay. You just have a bigger heart than I thought.” She wrapped him up in a hug. “Affection is good if the other person reciprocates it. It's okay if you and Slit were involved. Or continue to be. It doesn't change how I feel about you. And you seem to still care about me that way at the same time... and Max, I guess.” That bit of information was a little more confusing to her. Max was great, but was very skittish around people. And had been chained to Nux against his will when she first saw them. But Nux did grow on her fairly quickly. Maybe it was similar with Max.

Nux nuzzled into her hair and she could feel and hear him breathe in deeply. “Mmm. You smell so shine...”

She pulled back enough to rest her forehead against his. “I won't tell you who you can or can't love, or how you can do it. And I'm gonna keep loving you. Because I think you're pretty chrome, too, Nux.” She hoped she wasn't going too fast, but she couldn't deny that she had feelings for him. It was hard not to.

Nux's eyes widened. “You... you think I'm chrome?”

“Yes, Nux. You are the most chrome War Boy to ever walk this land.”

He beamed. The huge smile spreading across his face split is already bleeding mouth more. And then he tilted his head to kiss her and it was certainly not timid. She tasted the metallic tang of his blood as his tongue slipped into her mouth, swirling around with her own. She found she didn't mind the taste, but the rough stitches halfway up his tongue were a little off-putting. She kissed him back with the same fervor, running her tongue along the ridges of his lips and licking away the blood. He trailed kisses from her mouth, along her jaw, and to an ear. She clutched at him as he ran his tongue and teeth along her earlobe. He took part of the lobe into his mouth and sucked gently before practically sticking his tongue in her ear, tracing every contour. Capable thought she would slide to the floor if she didn't hold on to him tight enough.

“So good... Didn't know this could feel so good.”

“Slit says I'm pretty good with my mouth,” he said lowly into her ear.

“Well, that's good to know. But you probably shouldn't do more with that mouth in here unless you want to give us all a show.”

They both jumped and looked up to see Geffy grinning at them. Capable didn't think her face could be more red. She was certain it rivaled her hair now.

“Glad to see you're feeling better, Nux. Things seemed to be in working order.” Geffy raised an eyebrow and pointedly glanced to Nux's pants. Capable couldn't help but follow the gaze to see a definite tent in the front of said pants. She let go of him and scooted back a little. She wouldn't panic. She wouldn't. It was fine.

Geffy eyed her with concern before saying, “Your boy here needs to clean that white stuff off him, same as the others. But maybe we should get your quiet friend to help him with that. I'm sure you have other matters to attend to this morning.” She turned to Nux. “You'll have to come back here to have your wounds redressed after, you hear? And don't tear your stitches open again.”

He looked down, seemingly afraid to meet her eyes, but nodded. “How soon can I put it back on?”

“Back on? Oh, you didn't hear! The white clay is what's been giving you Boys your bumps! We're getting rid of all of it,” Geffy told him.

He gaped up at her, then turned to Capable. She nodded. “It's true. We talked to Corpus and figured out the correlation. But by not using it anymore, maybe it's not too late for most of you! We'll cut out your bumps, and you shouldn't be half-lifes anymore.” She looked to Geffy, hoping for confirmation.

Sadness drifted across Geffy's face, but she quickly replaced it with a smile. “I'm sure there's a lot we can try. We can certainly give it a shot.” Capable didn't feel reassured. But they had to try something...

Geffy put her hand on Nux's shoulder. She saw him flinch. “Nux. You run along and get your quiet friend, Max. Have him help you remove all traces of the clay. But don't get your stitches wet! We'd already cleaned those areas and they should only be cleaned in here for now so we know it's done right. Make sure you tell him that. Also, you've got a black smear on your forehead. Might want to clean that,  too.”

“Huh?” Nux rubbed at the spot and examined the black on his fingertips in confusion.

“Probably my fault,” Capable said and pointed to her own forehead. Nux looked up at her and seemed to notice the grease on her forehead and around her eyes for the first time.

“Ah! You're...” He pointed at her face. “The Shiny Imperator! You're an Imperator! When did that happen?” He put his fingers together in the V8 salute. Oh no. She would not take that from him.

“I'm just Capable to you.” She pushed his hands down. “None of that. I'm no more special than you are.”

“But,” he protested.

“Nux, please realize that you're just as good as everyone else. Better than most, actually. When I told you I think you're chrome, I meant it.”

“... okay.” He didn't look convinced, but it was a start.

“Now go clean that stuff off. I want you to be as healthy as you can be.” She smiled and kissed his cheek. “And tell Max I said it's alright.”

Nux grinned and kissed her back on both cheeks.

He all but ran out of the room.

“Slow down, you're gonna tire yourself out! And come back here when you're done!” Geffy called after him. He slowed just as he was about to run into Furiosa entering the room. She looked surprised to see him up, but not displeased. He waved at her as he passed.

“He looked in a good mood,” she said as she approached Capable and Geffy.

“Off to bathe with that Max fella,” Geffy told her.

“Hm. I'm a little surprised the Fool hasn't left already. Nux seems to be recovering quickly and Max told me he would leave when he was sure the kid was going to make it.”

“I think Nux is... convincing him to stay,” Capable replied.

“Probably for the best. He's reliable and we need more able bodies to defend this place. I'll be... glad if he stays.” She smiled, but her face quickly became serious. “Capable. We need to tell the others that Angharad and Miss Giddy's bodies were recovered. Decide what would be best to honor them.”

Capable nodded. Time with Nux had been a nice, if sometimes flustering, distraction from that. She had hoped for another miracle. If so many Boys had survived what could have killed them, then she could have, too. But no. Dead and left out to rot for the crows. It wasn't right.

“How is she?” Furiosa directed to Geffy, her tone soft.

“Awake. A little frustrated, but that's a given.” Geffy answered. “She asked about you.”

Capable watched as Furiosa made her way to the cot that held the woman with the mane of wild dark hair. Valkyrie, Capable remembered. Furiosa seemed to hesitate halfway to her before squaring her shoulders and striding with purpose. Skad and the other Vuvalini that had lost an eye – Maddie, was it? – had been talking to the woman, but backed away when Furiosa approached. They looked at each other in silence for several heartbeats before, in one swift motion, Furiosa dropped to her knees and lifted Valkyrie's head to press their foreheads together. Valkyrie lifted her arms to cup the back of Furiosa's head and stroke down her back, but the rest of her body didn't move at all.

“What happened to her?” Capable found herself asking, her voice lowered.

Geffy sighed. “I saw that damn People Eater hit her with his car. The bastard was laughing when he did it, driving over the both of them. I thought they were killed, but they must have gone between the wheels. It's crazy they survived, but... the impact broke her spine. I doubt she'll walk again.”

Capable shuddered. She was glad that bastard was dead. And the Bullet Farmer. And especially Joe. She worried she shouldn't have this much hate in her heart, but some people just could never be forgiven for what they did to so many people. To Angharad. To Miss Giddy.

She took a deep breath. It was time to get this over with.

“I'll be back soon with my sisters.”


	10. Becoming Clean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, Canaricita, for beta reading. This one's for you.
> 
> This chapter becomes quite NSFW. Also, I am a multi-shipper.

They were everywhere. They hadn't seen him yet, but he knew it was just a matter of time. If they would ever leave, he could get out of here. Why had he come back to this car to sleep? This had been a terrible mistake. Most of the Boys had been in the Blood Shed when he hid himself away, but he should have known they'd return. Furiosa had even offered space for him to sleep in Joe's old quarters, but he'd declined. Sleeping in a car had been natural to him for years now.

Max heard voices nearing his corner. He drew his Glock and patted his Luger Pistol to make sure it was also easily accessible.

“Max? Where are you?”

No, no, no. He was hoping that the voices would go away. They'd been fading, growing quieter here. But now...

“Max? Max!”

The voice was getting stronger. He tried to force it out of his mind.

“Max, is that you?”

But the voice was wrong. It didn't belong to the dead. At least he hoped it didn't...

The car door opened and he sprung up with both guns at the ready, only to stop himself short. It was Nux.

The Boy stared at him with a mixture of surprise and hurt in his wide blue eyes. Max lowered the guns and peered behind Nux, but none of the other War Boys were paying them any mind. He moved his gaze back to Nux and tilted his head as he put his guns away.

“Mm?”

“Um, I'm supposed to wash the white clay off and they said to get you to help me. But, uh, I can go get someone else if you wanna be left alone. Sorry I startled you...” He started to back away, good hand up and head bowed in a submissive gesture.

“No.” Max didn't want to be here alone. With these War Boys. He knew he wasn't in the right head space to deal with them. And he probably wasn't supposed to kill them without some kind of probable cause.

He extricated himself from the car and stood in front of Nux, continuing to cautiously glance around the room. A few of the Boys were starting to look their way and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. “Let's get out of here.”

As he followed Nux, he kept trying to calm his racing heart. Seeing all those War Boys hooked up to blood donors had stirred too-recent memories. He wasn't caged or muzzled, but he expected to be grabbed and manhandled into restraints again at any moment. Max decided to focus on Nux instead of the other Boys.

After going up a floor, Nux seemed a little winded. He really had been expending too much energy every waking moment for someone so injured. He didn't seem to know the meaning of the word rest. Most of his bruises were beginning to yellow around the edges, but the bruises under his eyes were as dark as ever. Max could only imagine how bad it was under the myriad of bandages covering the worst of the damage. Though he supposed he'd see it soon enough.

After they went up another flight of stone stairs, Max asked, “Rest?”

Nux was breathing heavily and looked slightly dazed, but shook his head. “Almost there.”

Max paused when he saw a War Boy and two pups coming toward them. They weren't wearing the white anymore, which helped a little, but were still identifiable by their shaved head and dark pants.

“Tok!” Nux greeted excitedly. “Thought you mighta' died.”

The War Boy set down his large urn and smiled at Nux. “Nah, I'm too tough for anyone to take out. Haha. Seems you are, too.” He lightly punched Nux's undamaged shoulder. Nux punched him back and they both bounced on their feet, arms that could be raised up in fists. But there seemed to be no malice behind it. Tok lowered his fists and gestured to Nux's person. “You 'bout to take that off?”

“Yeah. Capable says if we stop usin' it, they can maybe take our lumps off and make us closer to full-lifes!”

“Imperator Capable said that?” One of the Pups asked.

“Uh huh.”

“We like her,” said the other Pup. “She's nicer than the other Imperators were. She watched us train and said I'm gonna be a chrome Lancer! She's so shine...”

“Yeah, I think she's real shine, too.” Nux smiled fondly.

Tok picked his urn back up. “You're runnin' behind, mate. Everyone else already washed last night. Not a lotta soap left. Gonna have to make more from some of the Boys we brought back. But there's enough for you and... who's this now?” He eyed Max up and down.

“Oh, this is Max.” Nux perked up. “He's my blo-my _friend_ ,” Nux quickly corrected. Max hoped he'd stop accidentally calling him that soon.

Tok nodded and thankfully didn't ask any more questions. “Well, we oughtta get goin'. We're takin' the last of the clay down to bury outside the Citadel. Orders from Ace to get it out.”

“He an Imperator again?”

“Nah, but may as well be.”

With a wave, the Boy and Pups continued their way to the stairs and Nux continued their journey.

Finally, they reached an open area that Max would describe as a crude barber shop. There were buffed pieces of smooth metal serving as mirrors propped on top of stands along the walls. Even a few side-view mirrors from cars. Low benches were scattered around the room. He saw razors and various blades, rags, shallow basins, curved sticks, and a few small lumps of white soap haphazardly placed on every surface.

Nux cleared some space on one of the benches and picked up one of the shallow bowls. He handed it to Max and led him to a pipe that ran from an opening in the rough ceiling to a similar opening in the floor. Max placed the bowl under the tap he saw and Nux carefully opened the valve to fill it with clear water. Nux then reverently took the bowl from him and placed it on the cleared bench, turning back to smile at Max.

“No one else is here, so you can get your own bowl of Aqua Cola.” He inclined his head to one of the shallow basins while looking at Max. He seemed like a child getting away with something. “We gotta share a lot when the foreman's here to ration it. But looks like it's just us...” He bit his bottom lip and twirled a finger in the clear water.

Max hadn't planned on bathing, but he couldn't remember the last time he'd really been clean. It seemed as good an opportunity as any. He retrieved a bowl and filled it quickly, turning around to see Nux clumsily undoing his belts with the one hand. He was about to offer to help when the heavy pants fell to the ground with a small cacophony. It seemed the War Boys didn't apply clay much below the belt, but Nux's skin was almost as pale. He sat and leaned forward to remove his boots, then hesitated.

“Um, not sure I can get these off with one hand...”

Max set down his bowl and knelt to untie the boots. He kept his eyes to the task at hand, wanting to give Nux at least modicum of courtesy, though the boy seemed to have no modesty when it came to his nakedness.

When the boots were off, Max walked behind Nux before removing his own clothes. He set his guns on top of his pile of clothes, leg brace to the side. He would kept it all close, just in case.

Nux handed him one of the curved sticks, then turned his back to Max and stuck out his arm. Max wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do with it. Sticks weren't a part of his infrequent bathing habits. “What's this?”

Nux turned around. “Do you not know how to bathe? It's used it to scrape off the clay and dirt before using the rags and soap. Helps to not waste Aqua Cola.”

Max was curious. “How often do you do this?”

The pale boy shrugged the one shoulder. “'Bout every ten or fifteen days. It gets itchy and smells get real bad if you don't do it. We'd refresh the clay more often as it rubs off. But I guess that part won't happen anymore, just the black grease.”

“Mm,” Max grunted. He began dragging the curved metal down Nux's back, then his arm and everywhere else Nux wouldn't be able to reach with his one good hand. When he was done, Nux took the metal scraper and looked at him expectantly.

Max shook his head. “I can-”

“No,” Nux interrupted. “Turn around. I can reach your back and shoulders better than you. Besides, you're kinda filthy. You've got more dirt on you than I had clay on me.”

Max wasn't sure if he should feel offended, but supposed that Nux had a point. He turned his back to Nux, straddled the bench, and waited for the cool slide of metal. But it didn't come. When he was about to turn around to see what was taking so long, he instead felt the light touch of fingertips running along his back. Max’s spine went ramrod straight at the unfamiliar touch. “...what are you doing?”

Nux hesitated before speaking. “I... actually forgot we'd done this to you.”

“I didn't.” Max knew that Nux personally hadn't marked his skin, but it was just another permanent reminder of what some people were capable of. A reminder of being debased as an object, stripped of his autonomy and personhood.

The fingers continued their faint tracing. “I'm sorry,” Nux whispered. Then Max felt the warm press of lips on the brand on the back of his neck. He couldn't help but tense. Nux moved his hands to gently stroke up and down Max's arms as he he placed another kiss on his back, just at the start of the large tattoo. “This okay?”

Max didn't respond at first, just continued to sit with his back to Nux. He didn't think he could look the boy in the eyes right then. Finally, all he could manage was the slightest muscle twitch of a nod. Slowly, Nux began to kiss his way down Max's back. This went on for a while and Max realized that Nux was kissing every inch of that tattoo. Nux had him pressed forward as he kissed the last of the words on his lower back. When he was done, he pulled Max back to sit up tall again.

Without speaking, Nux began to drag the metal over Max's back. The metal was worn and a little rough, not the most comfortable sensation, but it felt as if it were pulling layers of more than dirt off of him. Max closed his eyes and imagined that Nux was somehow removing those words. He wished it could remove the memories. So many years of bad memories. His time at the Citadel hadn't been the worst of it, just the most fresh in a long series of hurts. In the quiet of this space, just Nux's breath and his own, and the soft scrape of the metal on his flesh, he could pretend that life could be simple again.

Nux nudged Max to lift his arms with the bit of metal before continuing his ministrations along his shoulders and down the arms. Then Nux stood and moved around to Max's front to continue working the metal over his chest and abdomen. Max knew he could do all of this himself, but it somehow felt right to let Nux do this for him. He stood to give full access of his legs. After he felt thoroughly scraped, Max took the bar and worked on completing Nux, avoiding his bandages and trying not to apply too much pressure over his bruises. The silence continued, but it was comfortable. He wondered if they both feared that talking would break some kind of spell, or if that feeling was just him.

Max set down the curved metal as Nux picked up a rag and one of the white lumps. Nux placed both in one of the bowls of water, then made a frustrated huff.

“Hm?”

“Can't make it sudsy with one hand...”

Max reached around him to massage the lump into the wet rag. He tried not to think about what had gone into making that soap, based on what that War Boy had said. He was thankfully distracted from that thought by Nux leaning back against his chest. He really did seek physical contact whenever possible. When Nux stepped back to press his whole backside against Max, he remembered just how naked they both were and stepped back and moved to sit on the bench again. All this standing without his leg brace was starting to make his knee ache again. That was all.

Max picked up another rag and lump and lathered it up in the same soapy bowl. He scrubbed at his face and neck before wiping it off with a dry cloth. Nux had resumed his seat behind him and did the same.

Soon, Max could feel the cloth moving in circles along his back. It was even more relaxing than the scraper had been. If that one was stripping away bad memories, this was putting something better in their place. Nux's fingers were strong and he seemed to know just where to press to make Max want to collapse into a puddle of himself. It was over too soon and suddenly Nux was sitting in front of him.

When Max leaned forward to wash Nux's back, it was difficult not to get the bandages wet. The sling for his right arm tied over his left shoulder, the stitching over his right clavicle was covered with bandages that connected down to more wrappings around his ribs. Even if the right arm wasn't in the sling, it was still tightly wound with fabric and metal bars; the hand bandaged with fingers wrapped together in pairs. Max could see dark stubble growing on Nux's head, disappearing under the wrappings. He would need to do this again when Nux was healed enough to take all these bandages off.

Max washed every bit of Nux he could easily get to. Nux continued to let out little sighs and even moaned when Max rubbed his neck, slightly massaging up the base of his skull.

Nux turned back to face Max.

As they ran the soapy rags over themselves, Max noticed that Nux was practically shaking now, his motions becoming jerkier, breath quickening. The calmness of earlier was fading but Max couldn't tell what had caused the change. Then Max saw that Nux's hand kept returning down to his groin. Nux was hard.

Max didn't think that blushing was something he would ever do, yet he felt heat rise in his cheeks. He'd been trying to keep his eyes above the belt, keep this platonic. But now he couldn't help but watch as Nux grasped himself and arched his back. Max turned his eyes up to Nux's face to see him smiling at him. Shit. Shit. Fuck.

Nux shifted himself closer and ran his rag over Max's stomach.

“This was my favorite part of bathing,” Nux purred as his hand dipped lower.

Max grabbed Nux's wrist. “I don't think Capable would... Aren't you two...?”

Nux tilted his head and said, “Capable said it's okay.” He dropped his rag and easily slid his hand out from Max's slippery grasp. “Not the same when I'm alone. I hate bein' alone. Slit hasn't woken up and I don't know if Capable'd want to with me. But I wanna be close with you, too. And it's been too long since I've done this and it feels so good and don't you wanna feel good? I wanna make you feel good. She said it's okay...” He pressed his forehead into Max's and climbed into his lap.

Max's heart raced. He still felt that he should say no, but it had been so long since he'd touched himself, countless years since anyone else had touched him. Despite all odds, he cared about Nux and he wasn't bad to look at. Max had just been denying that part of himself like he had with everything else. Afraid to let someone get this close. Until recently, he didn't think this would be something Nux would even want. Max tried to tell himself that Nux didn't know what he was doing, what he was asking for, but when he felt nimble fingers wrap around his already half-hard cock, he knew that Nux had done this before.

“Let me. Please.” Nux begged. Max found that he couldn't say no. He'd already allowed Nux in when he let him pull the hurt from his back. Hell, maybe it started sometime out on the road. Nux had been breaking through so many of the walls he'd put up. They'd all gotten under his skin, but Nux hadn't stopped. Would it be so bad to let a little more go?

Max sighed and pressed a palm to Nux's chest, feeling his heart beating wildly. He looked at Nux, clean cheeks flushed a deep pink, lips parted, eyes so open and vulnerable, searching for something in Max's own face.

Fuck it.

Max cupped the back of Nux's neck and pressed their lips together. Nux responded immediately, pressing his tongue into Max's mouth and hand shifting to grasp Max's hip for purchase. He felt Nux's cock against his own as the boy began to rut up against him. The soap made for a smooth glide. The stitches were an odd texture to feel in his mouth. He'd have to be careful with that.

Max broke the kiss. “Don't use your tongue too much. You'll rip the stitches.”

Nux pouted but nodded before kissing him again, no tongue this time. He continued to thrust his hips against Max's erratically, their lengths slipping beside each other and against their abdomens. Max reached between them and took Nux into his hand. Nux was a little longer than him, but not quite as thick. He pulled the foreskin down and flicked his thumb over the head, causing Nux to gasp and bury his face into Max's neck.

Max guided Nux to lie on his back. He braced himself on one forearm beside Nux's head, most of his weight on his good leg. His other hand wrapped partially around both of their shafts, gliding up and down and setting a steady rhythm as Nux writhed beneath him.

He felt like he was stealing something he didn't deserve. He hadn't allowed himself to relax or even feel pleasure like this in someone else's company in so long. To be this open and defenseless. Despite Nux's violent tendencies and having been used by the boy in the past, Max felt no fear that he would be hurt.

“Max, Max, Max...” Nux began to chant. He added his own hand to Max's and squeezed. He wrapped his legs around Max's hips and moved his hand faster and though he was under Max, he was in charge. “Hold me down... Yeah... Fuck... Bite me. I want your teeth, please, need you...” He tilted his head back, offering up his neck. So much trust. Max grazed his teeth over the veins he saw there and surprised himself by growling.

“More... please,” Nux whimpered.

Max bit down.

“Ah! V8, yes! Mmmm!” Nux stopped stroking them so he could hold Max's head in place, bucking his hips frantically. “Please. Yes. I want... I need...”

Max sucked the flesh of Nux's neck into his mouth, lapped it with his tongue, and bit down again. Nux howled and gripped his head tighter. Max scraped his teeth up Nux's neck and bit down again, then sucked hard.

“Glory be... mark me, have me, I...” Max was finding it harder to concentrate as Nux squirmed. He let go of their cocks, and just ground down hard against Nux, who met every thrust enthusiastically. Max took Nux's hand and held it above their heads on the bench. He finally relented on Nux's neck to kiss his mouth again. He sucked the ridged lower lip into his mouth and bit down. Nux let out a moan. Max didn't think he'd bitten too hard, but he tasted blood. He pulled back to look at Nux. His pupils were blown wide, black almost swallowing the blue. Nux ran his tongue over his bloody lip and smiled. “Max...”

They continued to move together, sweat mingling with the slippery soap. He began to feel the tightness coiling in his balls. “You feel so good, Nux.”

Nux keened and closed his eyes and Max thought Nux enjoyed his words as much as he had the biting.

“Yeah. You're my good boy. I want you to come for me. You're so good; I want to see you come.”

Nux came apart beneath him. Eyes rolled up into his head and back arched, he wailed as he spasmed. Max could feel Nux's cock twitching against his, hot come gushing in spurts against his stomach.

Max couldn't hold out any longer and allowed himself to release. Everything tingled before the bottom dropped out. He rode out the orgasm and ground against Nux with each wave of pleasure until his good leg gave out. Max let go of Nux's arm to better support himself. He didn't want to crush Nux, but his legs had gone numb. Nux let his own legs slide down to either side of the bench and stroked his hand down Max's back.

“That was so shine...”

Max grunted in response. He didn't think words would work for him for a while.

When he could feel his feet again, he pushed himself back up to sit at the bench and looked down at Nux. And promptly felt a small well of panic rise in his gut.

Nux looked like he'd been attacked. Dark bruises mottled the left side of his neck, his bottom lip was swollen and bloody. Some of the bandages around his chest had come loose and were splattered with their come. But Nux's expression was blissed out. He could barely keep his eyes open and was staring at Max with a crooked grin.

“Um, sorry about...” Max hovered a finger over the bruises on Nux's neck. “... that.”

“What? Why're you sorry?”

“Didn't mean to hurt you.”

“Mmm. Didn't hurt. Had worse.” Nux slowly sat up and ran his fingers through the come dripping down his stomach and chest. Max started to pick up a cloth to wipe him off when Nux began to lick it off his fingers. After they were clean, he wiped more off himself and offered it to Max.

Max shook his head and Nux shrugged before continuing to clean himself this way. Nux made a displeased face. “The soap tastes bad.”

Max couldn't help but laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now they have to wash all over again. I imagine that Nux was a little conditioned by Slit...
> 
> The curved bits of metal are based on the Roman bathing tools called strigils.
> 
> I kinda figure that most War Boys don't know much about what others would consider traditional relationships and just sought what felt right to them, so polyamory was common among those that did seek relationships.


	11. What's Left

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After a bit of a funk, I finally got to writing again. The comments section got a little interesting for the last chapter. I really enjoy discussing Citadel culture and all kinds of head canons and theories. You guys are great.
> 
> Thank you again to Canaricita for beta reading. If any of you are into Max/Nux, I highly recommend her stuff.

She hadn't wanted the girls to see, had wanted to keep the bodies wrapped as they had been in the back of the truck when they arrived. The smell was enough to know. But each girl said they needed to see for themselves. Needed that closure. And wasn't that the reason she'd instructed the bodies be returned, after all?

The truth was, she hadn't wanted to see, to be reminded that, even with their victory, there were some she had still failed.

Furiosa stroked her hand over the limp blonde hair that was spilling out from under the tarp. She pulled the heavy material away and made herself look, then closed her eyes and turned around. With her back to the bodies, she could see the reactions of the other women, which didn't make her feel any better.

Cheedo dropped to her knees, clinging to Dag's legs, and cried out while Dag was silently screaming and wrapping her arms around herself. Toast looked as if she were about to vomit, covering her mouth with her hands. Capable had glimpsed the two the night before when they were brought in; it had been dark, but she'd still been shaken. Now she looked determined, almost angry, as she stared at the bodies, hands clenched into fists at her sides. All four women had tears streaming down their faces.

She felt the experience of those horrible few seconds on the War Rig all over again. Then, she hadn't allowed herself to look back. She'd counted her losses and moved on. Now, the memory was fresh in her mind and she could see Angharad falling. Saw her crew falling and dying all around her as she'd barreled on. They'd all trusted her.

“What...” Furiosa cleared her throat. It felt tight. “What do you want to do with their bodies?”

Only Capable took her eyes off the prone figures. “We bury them. But not within the Citadel walls. She worked too hard to escape this place.”

Cheedo sniffed and wiped her face before saying, “She wanted to go to the Green Place.”

“We'll make her a Green Place,” Toast replied.

“How?” Cheedo asked in a small voice.

Dag spoke up. “The seeds. We'll bring the water down. Make a space and make it all grow.”

“We'll have to act quickly, while there's still something left of them to feed the plants. Life feeds on life.” Capable said.

Dag nodded. “We'll need some of the green thumbs from up top to help us dig.”

“Pipes to bring water down here will take a while to build. It'll have to be carried for a while.” Toast looked thoughtful. “We need to find a way to effectively get clean drinking water down here for everyone anyway.”

Furiosa was impressed with how pragmatic the girls were being. But then, there wasn't much else to do in this situation. Angharad and Miss Giddy were gone and there was nothing they could do to change that. They'd already mourned their dead. Now they would honor them in their own way.

Capable walked to the bodies and unsheathed a knife from her pants.

“What are you-” Dag started, but stopped when Capable began to cut several locks of hair from Angharad and Miss Giddy's heads. She placed the hair in her pockets and sheathed the knife again before kissing her fingers on each hand and pressing them to the foreheads of the two women.

“Something of them for us to keep,” she said. Capable leaned down and whispered something into Angharad's ear, then Miss Giddy's.

She stepped back and Furiosa watched through blurred vision as the other three stepped forward and shared their own kisses and quiet words to the dead. When they'd each had their turn, they looked to Furiosa expectantly.

She swallowed hard. She wasn't sure why she had not anticipated them wanting to include her in this. She steeled herself and approached the bodies again. She kissed her hand and mimicked the girls' previous motions and bent down to speak softly into Angharad's ear.

“I'm sorry I gave you such a hard time. We were both... willful. But I am glad we got to know each other. Your words pushed me to do what I should have done long ago. Your Sisters are free and no one will live in fear of him again. You would be proud of your Sisters and what they're already planning to do with this place. I'm sorry you can't see it. But I hope you're enjoying your own freedom, wherever you are.”

She shifted to talk to Miss Giddy. “I could have used someone like you when I was in their place. Thank you for looking out for them. For loving them.”

Furiosa took several steps back before reaching out, then brought her hand back to her heart. She thought of her time with Angharad, the disagreements they'd had before a mutual respect formed. She would have become a fine leader.

She saw other hands raised and returned in her peripheral vision and smiled at how the women had taken to the gesture so quickly. It was better than what the War Boys did when they Witnessed each other. She hoped it would catch on as the kamikrazy ones stopped craving a glorious death. They no longer had a War Lord to die for. And she would never be foolish enough to lead her crew to their deaths again. At least one of them still lived.

Capable stepped forward again and covered the two back up with the tarp. She then turned to her Sisters and they collapsed into each other, arms around shoulders and lips on foreheads.

“I miss them both so much...” Cheedo muttered.

“I know, dear heart. I do, too,” Dag said as she held the other girl close. “But they're among the stars now, watching over us. We can look for them tonight, if you'd like.”

Furiosa turned to give the girls some space. She doubted she would ever be as close with the four of them as they were with each other. She hadn't allowed herself to be that close to someone in a very long time. Her negative experiences had altered her perception of the world too much since then. She wanted the girls to have a simpler time of life than she'd had. They could keep letting their hope grow.

It was strange, though. Seeing them free within the Citadel's walls, herself and everyone else being free from his tyranny, was giving Furiosa her own sense of hope again. Though she couldn't help but also continue to be cautious.

As she was walking away, she heard the tail end of something Toast was saying. “... should be thankful for the ones we do still have.”

Furiosa smiled and nodded to herself. The ones she did have...

There were a few people she wanted to go see.

\- - - - -

It didn't take long to find him. She'd known he would be somewhere with the recovering Boys.

It was strange seeing all of them without their clay, but seeing Ace like that struck something in her. A reminder of when he first took her under his wing. All their history and she'd thrown it out to pursue something crazy. But it had been necessary. He'd have to see that.

She walked up and caught the tail end of his conversation with two Boys. She wasn't sure of their names. She'd never cared to really know anyone that wasn't in her crew. She knew she should change that.

“... as much as we can. We'll have to change their minds.” Ace was saying.

The two Boys he was talking to stood to attention when they saw her. Ace stopped talking and she noticed a tense shift in his posture.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey yourself,” he replied, still not facing her.

“Ace... can we talk?”

She saw as much as heard him sigh before sending off the Boys with a nod. He turned to her and crossed his arms over his chest.

She knew he was angry and upset with her, understandably so. He also looked disappointed. And very tired.

“I...” she started. A simple sorry wasn't going to cut it. He lifted an eyebrow and stared at her hard. His forehead was blackened and he wore his usual skull cap with the goggles pulled up to rest on top. Put a bandanna around his neck and he would look like an Imperator again. Their roles had switched once and she felt like they were switching again, even though she still outranked him.

“Things didn't all turn out the way I'd planned.”

He looked nonplussed.

“And what, exactly, did you plan? It woulda been nice to know.”

Furiosa went to cross her own arms, but upon remembering that her mechanical arm was still gone, she put her hand on her hip instead.

“I couldn't tell you. I couldn't risk it. That was my best chance, so I had to take it. You know that it was killing me to continue working under him. I couldn't keep pretending he was something great after everything he did. And I had to get the girls out, too, before it was too late for them.”

“Killin' you? Like you got all our Boys killed? You couldn't risk us knowin' what you were up to, but you could sure as Hell risk all of _our_ lives. Morsov and the others died protectin' you while you were betrayin' them. Did you plan on us all dyin' so you could get away more easily? Did you hate all of us that much? I thought we were a team.”

“I don't hate you. You were the one person here I actually considered a friend. And I grew to respect my crew. They were good Boys. Best case, I thought I'd leave you all in the desert to be picked up when they came after me, if I'd gotten more of a head start.”

“Your friend? I thought we were too, but friends _tell_ each other shit.”

“I thought you would tell Joe!”

“You don't know shit. You really think he was in such high regard with _everyone_? I knew him longer than you did. Respected some of the things he done, yeah, but I knew he wasn't a god, or even a great person. If you'd just talked to me...”

“You would have told me to be patient and not do anything crazy. I couldn't keep waiting. I had to do something. It was then or never.” She wasn’t afraid of owning up to the lives she was responsible for taking, but she stood by her decision, and she wouldn’t apologize for it. Even to Ace.

“I just...” Ace sighed and slumped his shoulders. “I wish it coulda gone down some other way. You get to be as old as me, and keep seein' so much death, people you care about. You keep wonderin' why it has to be like this. I keep wantin' to not care, but I can't shut off like you do.”

“You think I don't feel bad? You think it's not eating me up inside? They were my crew, too. You're right. I failed them. I led them to their unnecessary deaths. Is that what you want to hear?”

“I want things to change. I want these kids to stop goin' out looking for their deaths. It's gonna come one way or another. Too soon for some no matter what we do.” He looked over at the two War Boys he'd been talking to earlier. One was pointing at the spark plugs in an engine block while the other held up a Pup to get a closer look.

“I did a lot of thinkin' on my walk home and even more when I went back to collect our crew. I made sure all their bodies and scrapped cars were brought back while you were out continuin' that little chase. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done. The whole crew, dead. We never found Timmy's body, you know. I think he got swept up in the storm.” Ace shook his head. “That was his first supply run. He was practically still a Pup.”

“I can't bring them back. I wish it hadn't happened that way but I can't change it now. Their deaths will weigh on me for the rest of my life.”

“I know you can't. I'm not askin' you to make miracles. I'm askin' you to be a better leader. You've still got clout around here, despite what you did. Everyone's lookin' for a new leader, a new purpose.” He looked at his hands. “It's good you sorted it out about the clay. Probably too late for me, but what can you do.” He looked away then. When Furiosa began to reach out to him, he turned back to her.

“If you wanna be better than Joe, be _honest_ with the people you're tellin' what to do. If you'd actually _talked_ to me about what you were plannin', we coulda made somethin' work. I know you're bullheaded enough to follow through with crazy shit when you put your mind to it. I wouldn'ta been able to stop you. Even when I was askin' questions on the Rig, you couldn't answer me straight. And now I don't know if I can trust you the same again. That's what makes a good team; trust. I don't give a damn about Joe. You fucked over your crew. My Boys.”

It was a bitter pill to swallow, though all true. But she didn't want to lose what she had with him. The girls had had Miss Giddy. She'd had Ace. “I want to repair this somehow. Make good with you. The Boys and us were all part of a broken system. You want it fixed as much as I do. I know I'll never be your favorite person again, but you're still important to me. We did make a good team, and I think we could again.”

She watched Ace think for a moment. “I'd like that,” he finally said. “Despite everything, I'd like that. But it ain't gonna be easy. I'm not gonna forgive you over night, and maybe not ever. I want you to give me actual answers when I ask questions.” He pointed at her. “We're gonna have to deal with Siphus soon. That cocky shit killed even more Boys that shoulda come home. And he thinks he has leverage over you.”

“I'll deal with him.”

“You know you can't do everything on your own. Even with me helpin' you, you'll need more'n just the two of us to run this place. It's more'n just the War Boys that need new direction and purpose. And I'm just crew. Not everyone'll listen to me.”

“Then how about you be more than that.”

“You want me to be an Imperator again? Does that even mean anything anymore when you're just givin' the title to those little girls with no trainin'?”

“I think I'd like it if you were the _Prime_ Imperator. And I'd also like you to train those 'little girls.' Two of them, anyway. Show them what it takes.”

He blanched. “What.” 

“You heard me. You're respected by all the Boys and have the experience already. It only makes sense. As for the girls, I want them to learn from someone who knows how it should be. Someone who will help teach them how to be _good_ leaders.” She put her hand on his shoulder. “Their hearts are in the right place; they just need a guide. And some skills.” 

Ace sighed and rolled his eyes, but didn't reject her hand on him. “I'll think about it.” 

“Thank you.”

She hesitated and looked at him uncertainly. Then she leaned her head towards his and waited. After a pause, he met her halfway and bumped his forehead lightly to hers. Her heart felt lighter. She hadn't completely lost him, at least. 

_\- - - - -_

Furiosa found herself back at the Organic’s, which Skad and Geffy had taken to calling Medical. She'd wanted to see the Vuvalini again after her talk so that she could feel reminded that some good came of the sacrifices. Not everyone she cared about was dead. 

Ace had come with her so that he could be properly introduced to the Sisters, who were supposed to rendezvous here after setting plans in motion for the burial and planting. 

She and Maddie were propping Valkyrie up against a wall so that she could better see the goings on in the room. 

“You know, it's kind of funny,” Valkyrie mused. 

Furiosa sat back on her haunches and looked at her. “What is?” 

“I remember thinking, right after you were taken, that I'd give anything to see you again. I cried to the sky and told it I would pay any price. And now, I'm finally with you again, but I cannot walk or stand by your side.” Valkyrie gave a humorless laugh. 

Maddie squeezed Valkyrie's shoulder and looked between her and Furiosa before getting up. She walked over to Ace and began talking with him quietly, trying to give them a small amount of privacy. 

Furiosa looked at her friend and tried to think of something she could say that would offer comfort. Furiosa doubted Valkyrie would appreciate being coddled. She remembered what Ace had said to her when she lost her hand so long ago. _You're more'n your body. You'll rise above this. There'll always be someone out there tryin' to get you. So you gotta get stronger and get them first. Out here, everything hurts. You just gotta learn to use the pain._ Those words had stuck with her, kept her alive during some of her darkest times. All the more reason to fix things with him. 

Furiosa opened her mouth to speak, then closed it and shook her head. No. Ace's words had given her solace, but they were for a different time. She thought she'd just say what she felt. 

“You are no less to me as you are now than I am to you now.” She lifted her stump for emphasis. “You'll find ways to get through this. It will be hard, but I won't abandon you to do it alone. It was me and you against the world at one time. It can be me and you again. But I'm hoping we'll have more people on our side now.” She smirked and Valkyrie smiled back sadly. 

“Will we ever be what we were?” She reached a hand toward Furiosa's and Furiosa took it, running a thumb over the callouses and scars that marked her fingers. What all had she been through since those youthful days? 

She caught movement in the corner of her eye and realized that Nux and Max had returned from bathing. Nux was free of the clay and seemed to be nuzzling Max's head. Geffy was already fussing over the Boy's disarranged bandages. Furiosa turned her attention back to Valkyrie. 

“I don't know.” She remembered the feeling of loving this woman when they had been girls together; a lifetime ago when they weren't sure what the word even meant. Time and pain made it seem like a dream she could barely remember. “I don't think I'm the same person I was then. I'm not certain you'll like who I've become.” 

“I see a woman who's had everything taken from her and done what needed to be done to survive. I look into your eyes and I still see my Furiosa.” 

Furiosa looked into Valkyrie's green eyes, searching. 

“I think I want us to get to know each other again.” She let go of Valkyrie's hand and shifted forward with her knees on either side of Valkyrie's legs. “I don't want us to only think of each other as the memory of who we were. I don't want to be compared to the person I was. That doesn't feel real to me anymore. There's some of that still inside me, yes, but it seems so far away.” 

“Then I will get to know you all over again. But I don't think we can do that terribly well if I'm stuck in here on my ass every day.” Valkyrie's mouth twitched. Furiosa couldn't tell if it was the hint of a grimace or a smile. 

Furiosa placed her knuckles under Valkyrie's chin. “Then I'll help you move again, in some way. You don't need to walk when you can ride. You were never one to let anything hold you back.” 

Valkyrie smiled and it finally reached her eyes, puckering the scar near her left temple. 

“Hm. I seem to recall-” 

They were interrupted by Capable's exclamation. 

“What happened to your neck?!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As an aside, I drew injured Nux from Chapter 2. You can find it here - http://twiggzler.tumblr.com/post/133710444595/i-drew-injured-nux-from-chapter-2-of-my-fic. It's super sketchy and I got lazy with the head wound. I'm gonna try to get better about actually using references for my drawings of specific people.
> 
> I'll probably draw some more scenes from the story as it progresses if I get motivated enough.


End file.
